Patients desperate for oxygen in Delhi hospital

Hospitals and COVID-19 facilities in New Delhi and Prayagraj were overwhelmed on Saturday as India battled the world’s fastest pace of spreading infections.

Hospitals across the country have complained of chronic shortages of oxygen and beds and the government has blocked vaccine exports for several months to better meet needs at home, exacerbating the difficulty of poor countries to access vaccine.

Authorities scrambled anew Saturday to supply medical oxygen to Indian hospitals where COVID-19 patients were suffocating amid low supplies.

The country is experiencing the world’s worst coronavirus surge and set a new global daily record of infections for the third straight day.