India

India reports more than 300K COVID-19 cases in new daily record

India has reported more than 300,000 COVID-19 cases in one day, beating the global record for daily cases for the third day in a row, The Associated Press reported.

India has consistently beaten the global record, with more than 314,000 new daily coronavirus cases Thursday, more than 330,000 Friday and more than 346,000 Saturday.

India also beat its daily death toll record for the second day in a row on Saturday, seeing more than 2,600 people die from the virus over the past 24 hours.

This new outbreak is causing hospitals to run out of beds and oxygen needed to keep those COVID-19 patients in critical condition alive.

India’s Supreme Court told Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government that it has to come up with a “national plan” to distribute oxygen to hospitals in a week.

Health officials say the spike in cases in India is due to people gathering in large crowds without masks and without abiding by social distancing guidelines.

India’s health ministry is working to combat the oxygen shortage by purchasing 55,000 additional tons of oxygen.

India has had more than 16 million reported cases of the coronavirus and more than 180,000 deaths.