India has reported a huge surge in coronavirus cases that has swamped hospitals.
New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting this morning to review the availability of oxygen and medicines amid the surge in COVID-19 cases that has overwhelmed the country and its healthcare system.
The second COVID-19 wave has overwhelmed hospitals, morgues and crematoriums and left families scrambling for scarce medicines and oxygen. And while India is the world’s biggest producer of COVID-19 vaccines, shortages of the shots in some states have hindered the start of a mass vaccination drive.
Ahead of the surge in cases, leaders of all political parties, including PM Modi, led political rallies at which large crowds flouted rules on social distancing and mask-wearing.
Some experts blame the rallies and mass religious gatherings attended by millions for the severity of the second wave.
PM Modi has been criticised for focusing on the state elections instead of making the pandemic his top priority.
The central government has meanwhile been accused of failing to respond to a warning in early March from its own scientific advisers that a new and more contagious variant was taking hold in the country.
Mukut Mani Adhikari of BJP Leading 