TUESDAY June 29, 2021: 'India's Covid Nightmare' by ZUMA Photographers Vijay Pandey and David Talukdar: Countries worldwide wrestling with new coronavirus surges are trying to ensure they aren't hit by an India-style disaster. They face many of the same risks, including large populations that have shirked restrictions and fragile health systems shaken under the strain. In India, from 3 January 2020 to 29 June 2021, there have been 30,316,897 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 397,637 deaths, according to WHO. As of 19 June 2021, a total of 276,255,304 vaccine doses have been administered. The current COVID-19 surge, which first overwhelmed Maharashtra state and now is rolling through the rest of India, has humbled those who thought the country had bested the disease. As the country emerges from the world's biggest and deadliest COVID-19 outbreak, scientists and policy makers say vaccinations will be key to India's safety, confidence and economic recovery. Welcome to 'India's Covid Nightmare'
© Story of the Week #792: TUESDAY June 29, 2021: 'India's Covid Nightmare' by ZUMA Photographers Vijay Pandey and David Talukdar: Countries worldwide wrestling with new coronavirus surges are trying to ensure they aren't hit by an India-style disaster. They face many of the same risks, including large populations that have shirked restrictions and fragile health systems shaken under the strain. In India, from 3 January 2020 to 29 June 2021, there have been 30,316,897 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 397,637 deaths, according to WHO. As of 19 June 2021, a total of 276,255,304 vaccine doses have been administered. The current COVID-19 surge, which first overwhelmed Maharashtra state and now is rolling through the rest of India, has humbled those who thought the country had bested the disease. As the country emerges from the world's biggest and deadliest COVID-19 outbreak, scientists and policy makers say vaccinations will be key to India's safety, confidence and economic recovery. Welcome to 'India's Covid Nightmare'

A Covid-19 patient receives oxygen on the spot provided by a Sikh Organization in greater New Delhi. A series of failures, from the central government on down, left hospitals across India without medical oxygen, killing hundreds.
© Vijay Pandey/ZUMA Wire

A health worker wearing PPE kit, prepares to take swab samples during COVID-19 coronavirus tests, in Guwahati.
© David Talukdar/ZUMA Wire

Relatives of the deceased wearing full PPE suits, perform the last rites at Nigambodh Ghat.
© Vijay Pandey/ZUMA Wire

A Muslim man wearing a facemask prays inside Jama Masjid mosque after the opening of some religious sites as India eases lockdown restrictions that were imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease.
© Vijay Pandey/ZUMA Wire

Mass cremations of dozens of COVID-19 victims take place daily at old Seemapuri crematorium ground as coronavirus cases and deaths surge in New Delhi.
© Shailendra Pandey/ZUMA Wire

Municipal workers carry a body of a victim who died of COVID-19 coronavirus, in Guwahati. A new wave of the pandemic has overwhelmed the country's healthcare services and has caused crematoriums to operate day and night as the number of victims continues to spiral out of control.
© David Talukdar/ZUMA Wire

Family members stand amid the smoke and flames as dozens of coronavirus victims are cremated at a mass funeral pyre at Gazipur crematorium.
© Vijay Pandey/ZUMA Wire

Medical workers and relatives in PPE gear lower a coffin into a grave during the burial of a victim who died of Covid-19 at the Jadid Qabristan Ahle Islam graveyard.
© Vijay Pandey/ZUMA Wire

Health worker in personal protective equipment (PPE) collects a nasal swab sample from a patient during Covid-19 Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT), at a Swab collection centre.
© David Talukdar/ZUMA Wire

A health worker wearing gloves shows a Bharat Biotech COVAXIN dose at a government hospital in Barpeta. India has entered the second phase of its vaccination drive with two 'Made in India' vaccines Covishield and Covaxin. The Indian Council of Medical Research announced that phase 3 results of Covaxin have shown an interim vaccine efficacy of 81 percent in preventing COVID-19.
© David Talukdar/ZUMA Wire

A member of the public receives a Covid-19 vaccine to protect against coronavirus disease at a school currently used a temporary vaccine station, in Guwahati.
© David Talukdar/ZUMA Wire

A man is vaccinated against COVID-19 (Bharat Biotech COVAXIN) at a government hospital in Barpeta, as India has entered the second phase of its vaccination drive with two India made vaccines Covishield and Covaxin.
© David Talukdar/ZUMA Wire

Workers at an oxygen filling station at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, as cities and towns across India struggled to keep COVID-19 coronavirus patients breathing amid a severe oxygen shortage.
© David Talukdar/ZUMA Wire

Comforted by a family member, a Covid-19 patient receives oxygen provided by Sikh Organization in greater New Delhi.
© Vijay Pandey/ZUMA Wire

A masked security guard stands outside a cremation grounds next to a sign that grimly states 'ONLY COVID-19 BODIES'.
© Vijay Pandey/ZUMA Wire

A Doctor in PPE kit making the rounds inside the ward at the CWG Stadium Covid-19 Care Centre.
© Vijay Pandey/ZUMA Wire

A COVID-19 treatment facility newly set up, at Sarusajai Sports Complex. India has reported 314,835 new cases of the novel coronavirus over the previous 24 hours, the world's largest one-day rise in case numbers.
© David Talukdar/ZUMA Wire

During Covid-19 quarantine, children play ludo with a health worker who also tested positive for the coronavirus. The two children and their parents all contracted coronavirus and were treated inside a temporary Covid-19 Care Centre in New Delhi.
© Vijay Pandey/ZUMA Wire

Relatives of a victim who died of Covid-19 perform the last rites during a cremation at Nigambodh Ghat crematorium in Delhi.
© Vijay Pandey/ZUMA Wire

Dozens Covid-19 victims are cremated during a mass funeral pyre at Gazipur crematorium in New Delhi. India sadly holds the record for the highest number of new infections ever recorded in a single day across the globe of 314,000 cases.
© Vijay Pandey/ZUMA Wire

A woman with breathing difficulty inhales medication with the help of nebulizer oxygen mask, inside an ambulance, at MMCH hospital in Guwahati.
© David Talukdar/ZUMA Wire