India has witnessed horrific scenes in recent weeks with severe shortages of oxygen at hospitals. File photo

Gulf Today Report

India on Tuesday posted 196,427 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, its lowest daily rise in infections since April 14, while deaths from COVID-19 rose by 3,511.

The country's overall case load now stands at 26.95 million, while total fatalities are at 307,231, according to health ministry data, according to Reuters.

More than a thousand cases have been reported in Haridwar district in the last two days.

Deadly outbreaks in India, Brazil and elsewhere have pushed the global death toll past 3.4 million people, even as vaccination programmes in rich countries such as the United States, Britain and Israel have allowed them to ease restrictions.

India has witnessed horrific scenes in recent weeks with severe shortages of oxygen at hospitals and crematoriums overwhelmed, although the number of new daily infections has fallen in big cities.

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But experts say the real numbers of deaths and infections in India -- fuelled by a new coronavirus variant and "superspreader" events such as religious festivals -- are probably far higher than the official figures.

India has been the world's worst-hit country since April 2 by new daily cases.

"We are seeing the bodies along the river Ganges, which don't seem to be recorded as Covid deaths but are very likely to be Covid deaths," Ashoka University biology professor Gautam Menon told AFP.

India has administered close to 200 million vaccine shots, but experts say the programme needs to be ramped up significantly to bring the virus under control.