Critics of India's handling of the COVID crisis lay the blame squarely at the feet of government "negligence."
India has suffered a sudden increase in daily new cases. The word "laaparavaahee" in Hindi - or negligent, reckless, careless or sloppy in English - has appeared in news articles and opinion pieces - pointing to both the government's response and to the people's premature optimism.
India is grappling with a serious new wave of infections and has overtaken the U.S. and Brazil in new daily infections. India has more than 13.9 million positive cases and more than 178,000 fatalities, according to the latest data.
India earlier received praise for its quick reaction to the pandemic and its low death rate of 1.5%. New daily cases dropped from 97,000 a day in September to about 10,000 a day in January. However, daily new cases began to rise in February - passing 100,000 a day. This month, the country's daily new cases shot up and passed 200,000.
Experts said some states were too quick to lift regulations. Social, religious and political gatherings were blamed for the rise in new cases. Citizens who failed to follow social distancing and mandatory mask-wearing orders are believed to be the main contributors.
In March the government said the country was already in the endgame of the pandemic - a statement criticized as premature. India has inoculated more than 100 million people but 1% of the population only has received a second dose.
According to official data, roughly 81% of new cases came from 10 of the country's 28 states. Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala account for around 70% of all active cases.
In those states night curfews and weekend lockdowns have been reinstated. Officials said health services and crematoriums were overwhelmed and medical supplies were short.
The latest wave in India coincides with the recent spread of the UK coronavirus variant. Officials said most of the new cases were found to be the UK variant. Recent studies showed it can infect previous sufferers.
