Hospital collapse in India amid the advance of the second wave

1A health worker, equipped with protective equipment, transfers a patient suffering from covid to the Guru Teg Bahadur hospital in New Delhi.

India has accumulated a total of 16.6 million infections and 189,544 deaths, making it the nation currently hardest hit by the pandemic in the world, according to data from Indian authorities.

ADNAN ABIDI REUTERS

2The unstoppable increase in covid-19 cases has forced the installation of makeshift crematoriums in their cities, such as this one in New Delhi.

Altaf Qadri AP

3Patients affected by coronavirus await treatment at the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in New Delhi.

The capital confirmed 24,331 new cases in the last day, which puts even more pressure on its health centers, which have been on the brink of collapse for days.

DANISH SIDDIQUI REUTERS

4A worker fills medical oxygen bullets for use in hospitals on the outskirts of Chennai.

This morning the authorities of the Jaipur Golden hospital, in the national capital, reported the death of 20 covid-19 patients due to lack of oxygen supply.

ARUN SANKAR AFP

The Government of India authorized this Saturday the exception of tariffs on the supply of oxygen, anticovid vaccines and medical treatments related to the disease.

In the image, the body of a deceased by coronavirus before her cremation in New Delhi, this Saturday.

ADNAN ABIDI REUTERS

6The Indian Government had already made an exception last Wednesday from the levies on the antiviral Remdesivir and its active ingredients, to meet the demand for the drug, driven by a rapid spread of the disease.

In the image, health personnel carry out a PCR at a bus station in the capital.

Anindito Mukherjee Getty Images

7Despite being recognized as "the world's pharmacy" for its large-scale drug production, the emergence of a second wave of cases, which has far outpaced the first, has put heavy pressure on its drug industry.

In the image, a priest (on the left) avoids the heat of the multiple funeral pyres of patients who died from the covid.

Anindito Mukherjee Getty Images

8Several hospitals in the national capital have reported the emergency and risk situation in which their patients are in intensive care due to lack of oxygen.

In the image, transfer of the body of a patient who died from covid in a hospital in Calculta.

PIYAL ADHIKARY EFE

In the midst of the emergency, the Government announced the opening of a fast track to approve the use of other imported vaccines that had already obtained a license for use in another country.

In the image, queues of people to get vaccinated in Bombay, this Saturday.

PUNIT PARANJPE AFP

10Until the middle of this month, India depended for its vaccination on the only two preparations made in the country: the national Covaxin vaccine from Bharat Biotech;

and Covishield, from the British-Swedish laboratory AstraZeneca produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII).

In the image, a patient sick with covid uses oxygen in a vehicle, in the Indian capital.

Anindito Mukherjee Getty Images

11 Transferring the body of a COVID victim for impromptu cremation in New Delhi on Friday.

DANISH SIDDIQUI REUTERS

12 Several family members mourn before the body of Shayam Narayan after he died of covid at the Guru Teg Bahadur hospital, this Saturday. DANISH SIDDIQUI REUTERS