India Friday reported a record daily increase in COVID-19 cases of 414,188 - bringing new cases for the week to 1.57 million, health ministry officials said.
India's immunization rate has fallen because of a lack of supplies and transport problems. Demand for medical oxygen has climbed sevenfold.
Late Thursday 11 COVID-19 patients died when pressure in an oxygen line suddenly fell, possibly because of a defective valve, the Times of India said.
India's COVID-19 cases are currently 21.5 million while deaths have reached 234,082. The country with 1.39 billion people has added almost 500 fatalities this week alone, Reuters reported.
Harsh Vadhan, India's health minister, said there was enough oxygen but there are difficulties transporting it to hard-hit places. Most oxygen is produced in the east of the country, but demand is rising in the country's north and west.
Health authorities said the real extent of COVID-19 in India was five to 10 times the official tallies.
"After having attained a rate of around 4 million a day, we're now down to 2.5 million a day because of vaccine shortages," Reuters quoted Amartya Lahiri, an economics professor at University of British Columbia, as saying.
Wealthy Western countries like the U.S., Germany and Britain are rushing rapid tests, oxygen and therapeutics to India as well as the equipment required to boost vaccine production.
India's health care system is collapsing with hospitals and medical facilities running out of beds and medical oxygen.
Morgues and crematoriums are overwhelmed.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka became the latest of India's neighbors Thursday to shut its borders with the world's second most populated country. Nepal and Bangladesh have banned flights and sought to close their borders with India.
