Deadly Oxygen Shortages As India Nears 2 Crore Covid Cases

India's underfunded health care system is under severe strain, with fatal shortages of beds, drugs and oxygen leaving some to die awaiting treatment in long queues outside hospitals in Delhi and other cities.

India's total Covid caseload neared 20 million on Monday as oxygen shortages in hospitals exacerbated a devastating second wave and much-needed foreign assistance continued to pour in. Infections have soared by around eight million since the end of March, according to official data which many suspect are a considerable underestimate. India's underfunded health care system is under severe strain, with fatal shortages of beds, drugs and oxygen leaving some to die awaiting treatment in long queues outside hospitals in Delhi and other cities. Twenty-four people died in one hospital overnight on Sunday in Karnataka after the hospital ran out of oxygen, media reports and sources said, though the district administration denied that shortages had caused the deaths.