India’s health care system and other essential services are close to collapse as a second COVID-19 wave that started in mid-March tears through the country with devastating speed.
On April 21, the country saw its highest daily rise in infections and deaths since the start of the pandemic (295,041 new COVID-19 cases and 2,023 fatalities) as hospitals turn away patients and beg for more oxygen, while desperate families plead for beds and medicines on social media.
