India Posts Fifth Consecutive Day of 300,000-Plus New COVID-19 Infections as World Sends Badly Needed Aid

The head of the World Health Organization said India’s situation is “beyond heartbreaking” as the country reported nearly 353,000 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Monday, the fifth consecutive day of more than 300,000 coronavirus infections.

"WHO is doing everything we can, providing critical equipment and supplies, including thousands of oxygen concentrators, prefabricated mobile field hospitals and laboratory supplies," WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus told a briefing from Geneva. He noted the WHO has already announced 2,600 extra WHO staff members will go to India to help with efforts to fight the disease. India’s health care system is malfunctioning amid a catastrophic second wave of the virus, with hospitals filled beyond capacity and unable to care for any new patients and a shortage of oxygen canisters so dire that some COVID patients are literally gasping for air.