India reports record number of new coronavirus cases

As more people get vaccinated in the U.S. and other wealthy countries, around 40% of new global cases are coming from India

India set a new record this week for the highest number of new coronavirus infections of any country since the pandemic started, according to a report.

The country’s health ministry reported 312,731 new infections on Thursday, topping the former global record in the U.S. of 300,669 new cases in one day on Jan. 8, according to The New York Times.

India also reported 2,104 deaths Thursday. 

The numbers are a sharp uptick from early February when the country was averaging about 11,000 cases a day. 

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Cases have spiked in the country recently amid reports of superspreader gatherings and overwhelmed hospitals, according to The Times. 

A woman cries after her husband died of a leakage in the oxygen plant of a hospital in Nashik, in the Indian state of Maharashtra, Wednesday, April 21, 2021. A local administrator in western India says 22 patients have died in a hospital when their oxygen supply was interrupted by a leakage in a supply tank. The official says the oxygen supply has since been resumed to other patients. (AP Photo)

On Wednesday, a leaking oxygen tank at a hospital in the western city of Nashik left at least 22 patients on respirators dead due to lack of oxygen, the Washington Post reported.

Ramanan Laxminarayan, the director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy in The Times blamed the crisis on "complacency and lack of preparation by the government" for allowing large meetings and festivals to take place and failing to warn people to stay vigilant especially as the new variants enter the country.

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As more people get vaccinated in the U.S. and other wealthy countries, around 40% of new global cases are coming from India, according to the Times. 

Experts warn that although 132 million Indians have already been vaccinated, the country likely won't be able to innoculate its goal of 300 million by this summer because of vaccine shortages. 

India has more than 15.6 million total cases, second only to the U.S., The Times reported. 

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