Photos: India’s COVID-19 cases cross 20 million

People wait to refill their medical oxygen cylinders for the COVID-19 coronavirus patients under home quarantine at a private refill centre in New Delhi on May 4, 2021, as India's total Covid caseload soared past 20 million.

India halted its most popular sports tournament (IPL) on Tuesday. The country’s opposition chief called for a nationwide lockdown as the number of coronavirus infections climbed past 20 million, a dismal milestone crossed only by the United States. Above, a patient on oxygen support waits to be admitted to a hospital during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in India, Kanpur.

People above 18 years old wait for their turn to get the COVID-19 vaccine at Radha Soami Satsang Vaccination Centre in New Delhi.

Relatives mourn the death of a COVID-19 victim, at a crematorium in New Delhi.

With 3.45 million active cases, India recorded 357,229 new infections over the last 24 hours, while deaths rose 3,449 for a toll of 222,408, health ministry data showed. Experts say actual numbers could be five to 10 times higher, however.

“The only way to stop the spread of Corona now is a full lockdown... GOIs inaction is killing many innocent people,” Congress MP Gandhi said on Twitter, referring to the Government of India.

A senior citizen receives COVID-19 vaccine shot, during a drive-in vaccination that is claimed to be the first in India, in Mumbai.

The surge in cases of the highly infectious Indian variant of COVID-19 has swamped the health system, drained medical oxygen supplies vital for survival for those infected, and seen patients dying in ambulances and car parks outside hospitals.

India has postponed exams for trainee doctors and nurses in a desperate effort to fight the infections sweeping across the country.

Medical staff arranges Oxygen cylinders for COVID-19 patient in isolation train coaches at Madan Mahal Railway station in Jabalpur.

Relatives of 24 patients, including COVID-19 patients who died due to oxygen shortage and other reasons, mourns at Chamarajanagar, Karnataka.

Rajasthan Royals team bus parked outside a city hotel in Kolkata, Tuesday, May 4, 2021. The Indian Premier League Governing Council and BCCI in an emergency meeting has unanimously dicided to postpone IPL 2021 season with immediate effect in the view of rising COVID-19 cases across the country.

Relatives mourn the death of a person who died of COVID-19 outside a field hospital in Mumbai. Offering a glimmer of hope, the health ministry said positive cases relative to the number of tests fell on Monday for the first time since at least April 15.

A family member comforts a patient breathing with the help of oxygen being provided by a Gurdwara under a tent installed along the roadside amid COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in Ghaziabad.

Coronavirus cases in some regions were plateauing, a federal health ministry official said on Monday, adding that some states like Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Maharashtra and the most populous one, Uttar Pradesh, had seen a dip in numbers. Above, relatives mourn the death of a COVID-19 victim, at a crematorium in New Delhi.

People over 18 years of age wait to receive COVID-19 vaccine doses, at one of the largest vaccination sites set up by BLK-Max hospital at Radha Soami Satsang grounds, in New Delhi.