People wearing protective face masks wait to receive a vaccine for the coronavirus at a vaccination centre in Mumbai. Reuters

Gulf Today Report

India on Wednesday reported 92,596 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, less than one lakh cases for the second straight day and 6,098 cases more than Tuesday and 2,219 deaths from the coronavirus, the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry said.

On June 8, India recorded 86,498 cases, lowest since April 2 when the country logged 89,129 new cases.

A health worker attends to a patient inside a vehicle at a dedicated COVID-19 government hospital in Ahmedabad. AP

The country's total COVID-19 case load now stands at 29.1 million, while total fatalities are at 353,528, according to data from the health ministry.

India's overall tally of COVID-19 cases now stands at 29,089,069 with 1,231,415 active cases and 353,528 deaths so far, according to Indo-Asian News Service.

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After battling a brutal second wave for weeks, fresh COVID cases came down below the three lakh-mark for the first time on May 17 after touching record high of 414,188 on May 7.

In the last three weeks, India has recorded over 93,000 deaths. India registered record fatalities due to COVID-19 on May 21 with 4,529 deaths — the highest from COVID infection in any country in a day since the coronavirus outbreak was reported in China's Wuhan in December 2019. It surpassed 4,468 deaths in the US on January 12, 2021, and 4,211 in Brazil on April 6, 2021.

A mass cremation of victims who died due to  coronavirus is seen at a crematorium ground in New Delhi. Reuters

The surge, spurred by insidious new variants of coronavirus, has undermined the Indian government’s premature claims of victory over the pandemic. The country of nearly 1.4 billion people is facing a chronic shortage of space on its intensive care wards. Hospitals are experiencing oxygen shortages and many people are being forced to turn to makeshift facilities for mass burials and cremations as the country’s funeral services have become overwhelmed.

Meanwhile, in a bid to tackle the shortage of beds, Indian authorities are turning to train carriages, which have been converted into isolation wards. India has also started airlifting oxygen tankers to states in need. Special trains with oxygen supplies are also running in the country.

Patients suffering from COVID-19 share a bed as they receive treatment in Lok Nayak Jai Prakash hospital. Reuters

According to the Health Ministry, a total of 1,62,664 people have been discharged in the last 24 hours, taking the total discharge to 2,75,04,126 till date.

The Health Ministry said that a total of 239,058,360 people have been vaccinated so far in the country, including 2,776,096 who were administered vaccines in the last 24 hours.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 37,01,93,563 samples have been tested up to June 8 for COVID-19. Of these 19,85,967 samples were tested on Tuesday.