The Indian Ministry of Health said today that new daily infections have more than doubled since early April, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to more than 14.1 million.

The country also recorded an additional 1,038 deaths, bringing the death toll to nearly 175,000.

A series of religious festivals, political rallies and cricket matches open to spectators are the reason why India is experiencing a terrible wave of Covid-19 with nearly two million infections in just the first half of the month.

After a lockdown a year ago caused widespread misery and led to the biggest contraction of any major economy, India’s government is desperate to avoid a second lockdown.

People lined up waiting to be tested for Covid-19 at a train station in Mumbai, Maharashtra state, India on April 14.

However, many states are tightening restrictions.

Hospitals and doctors in Maharashtra and other regions, including the northern state of Gujarat and the capital Delhi, reported scenes of chaos as medical facilities were overwhelmed by a surge in Covid-19 hospitalizations.

`The situation is terrible. Our hospital has 900 beds but about 60 patients are waiting and we have no space for them,` said Avinash Gawande, a health official in Maharashtra state.

Hospitals elsewhere, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, are struggling with oxygen shortages.

The Indian government said the country has been producing oxygen at full capacity for the past two days and has increased production.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims still flock to the Ganges River bathing festival in the north of the country, raising concerns about a new surge of infections in the region.

In the capital Delhi, daily Covid-19 cases are reaching new records, causing the state premier to announce a curfew on the weekend.

`This virus has the ability to spread and is more dangerous. We have 35-year-old patients with pneumonia in intensive care, which did not happen last year. The situation is very chaotic,` Dhiren