India reports a record rise of 379,257 new cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the total to 18.38 million. Fatalities rose by a record 3,645 to 204,832.
Indians struggled to register online for a mass vaccination drive set to begin at the weekend as the country"s toll from the coronavirus surged past 200,000 on Wednesday, worsened by shortages of hospital beds and medical oxygen.
The U.S. is sending supplies worth more than $100 million to India to help it fight a surge of COVID-19 cases. The supplies, which will begin arriving Thursday and continue into next week, include 1,000 oxygen cylinders, 15 million N95 masks and 1 million rapid diagnostic tests. Washington has also redirected its own order for AstraZeneca materials to India, which will allow it to make over 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, according to the White House.