India's coronavirus death toll topped 200,000 on Wednesday, with more than 3,000 deaths reported in 24 hours for the first time, official data showed.
A total of 201,187 people have died from the epidemic in the country, and 3,293 over the past 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health, although many experts believe that the real toll is higher.
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Faced with this situation, in some towns, crematoriums operate their oven 24 hours a day and “wild” cemeteries are multiplying.
Funeral in India.
SANJAY KANOJIA / AFP SANJAY KANOJIA
India has recorded a total of 18 million infections, with 360,000 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours.
Nearly six million new cases were added in this month of April alone.
Insufficient vaccine stocks
The explosion in the number of cases, attributed in particular to a variant of the virus and to large-scale political and religious rallies, has overwhelmed hospitals, which are sorely lacking in beds, medicines and oxygen.
The crisis is particularly severe in New Delhi, where breathless people are dying at the gates of crowded hospitals.
India has so far administered 150 million vaccines and, from Saturday, the program will be extended to all adults, meaning an additional 600 million people will be able to benefit from it.
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However, many states report that their vaccine stocks are insufficient and experts call on the government to prioritize vulnerable groups and the most affected areas.
