India Posts Record-Setting One-Day COVID-19 Death Toll    

India is reporting the world’s highest single-day death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Health Ministry Wednesday said 4,529 people died in a 24-hour period, the first time the South Asian nation posted more than 4,500 single-day deaths during the pandemic.    India now has 283,248 COVID-19 related deaths out of more than 25.4 million total infections, placing it second behind the United States, which leads the world with 587,219 deaths out of a confirmed 32.9 million total infections.  A surge of new infections in the world’s second most-populous country has created a humanitarian disaster, with hospitals filled to capacity and an acute shortage of oxygen to treat the sick, with scores of makeshift crematories rushing to burn the dead.  Experts believe the actual casualty figures are much higher than the official figures.