Just under 400,000 infections were added, bringing the total number of cases past 19.5 million.

‘Tinderbox been ignited’: diaspora watches in horror as virus overruns India

The latest figures came as medical equipment, including oxygen-generation plants, was flown into the capital New Delhi from France and Germany as part of a huge international effort.

“We are here because we are bringing help that … will save lives,” Germany’s ambassador to India, Walter J. Lindner, said as 120 ventilators arrived late on Saturday.

“Out there the hospitals are full. People are sometimes dying in front of the hospitals. They have no more oxygen. Sometimes [they are dying] in their cars.”

French ambassador Emmanuel Lenain said his country wanted to show solidarity with India.

“The epidemic is still going on in one country. The world won’t be safe until we are all safe. So it’s a matter of urgency,” he said early on Sunday following the delivery of eight oxygen-generation plants and dozens of ventilators from France.

04:06

International community races to help India tackle worsening Covid-19 outbreak

International community races to help India tackle worsening Covid-19 outbreak

India’s eastern state of Orissa on Sunday became the latest region to order a lockdown to slow the spread of the pathogen.

The nation’s worst-hit city, Delhi, reported just over 25,000 cases on Saturday as it extended its own lockdown by another week.

Hospitals in the capital continued to issue SOS calls for oxygen on social media, with the latest appeal posted by a children’s hospital on Twitter on Sunday.

The plea came a day after up to a dozen patients died at a Delhi hospital amid an oxygen shortage, local media reported.

The New Zealand High Commission in New Delhi also turned to Twitter on Sunday to request oxygen cylinders.

‘A chance to make peace’: the Chinese toughing out India’s Covid-19 storm

There are also growing fears about the surge of the virus in small cities, towns and rural regions where health infrastructure is already patchy and limited.

India on Saturday opened up its inoculation drive to all adults, but supplies are running low and only online enrolments are allowed for those aged under 45.

“It is a necessity now. We are seeing so many people testing positive,” data scientist Megha Srivastava, 35, said outside a Delhi vaccination centre as she waited for her shot.

The head of the world’s largest vaccine maker, Serum Institute chief Adar Poonawalla, told The Times newspaper on Saturday during a business trip to Britain that he was being hounded by political and business leaders for more supplies.

“’Threats’ is an understatement,” he told the paper. “The level of expectation and aggression is really unprecedented. It’s overwhelming. Everyone feels they should get the vaccine.”

Experts have called on the government to allow more flexibility in India’s vaccine roll-out, particularly in poorer rural areas where there is lower internet penetration.

“We should procure sufficient vaccines, then plan bottom-up through … the primary health centre level,” Bangalore-based public health expert Hemant Shewade said.

“Take vaccines to the people the way we have implemented our polio and measles campaigns.”

Alarm bells are also ringing in other countries in densely populated South Asia.

On Saturday, the Himalayan nation recorded 5,706 new cases, just shy of a pandemic high of 5,743 in October.

Nearly 40 per cent of people tested returned a positive result, data from the ministry showed.

The government has enforced lockdowns or partial shutdowns in almost half of Nepal’s 77 districts.

“We could face an India-type crisis very soon unless we arrest the current trend of infections,” chief epidemiologist Sudath Samaraweera said.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg