Edit... Dina El Sheriff

The number of victims of the Corona virus in India has risen to more than 200,000, the bloodiest day in the country, as lack of oxygen, medical supplies and hospital workers has increased the number of new infections by record.

The second wave of infections saw at least 300 thousand people infected with the virus every day over the past week, flooding health-care facilities and crematoria and fuelling an increasingly urgent international response.

The past 24 hours have brought 360.960 new cases of the world's largest total in a single day, bringing the number of casualties in India to nearly 18 million. It was also the bloodiest day yet, with 3293 killed and the death toll rising to 201187.

"The world is entering a critical phase of the epidemic and needs to provide vaccines to all adults as soon as possible," said Adya Regmi, President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in South Asia.

He added: "This is a general moral and health imperative. As variables continue to spread, the epidemic is not over until the whole world is safe. "

Dr. Devlena Chakravarti from Artemis Hospital in the suburb of Gurgaon wrote in the Times of India: "We make hundreds of calls and send messages every day to get our daily share of oxygen."

Manish Prakash, its chief executive, Manish Prakash, told NDTV that the nearby Mayum hospital stopped the admission of new patients unless patients brought with them cylinders or oxygen capacitors.

Supplies arriving in New Delhi included ventilators and oxygen capacitors from Britain, with more sent from Australia, Germany and Ireland, while Singapore and Russia pledged oxygen cylinders and medical supplies.

For its part, the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's Global stated: "The second wave of casualties in India could hamper its economic recovery and expose other countries to further outbreaks."

Asia and the Pacific, in particular, had been vulnerable to infection from highly contagious variables in India, given the region's low vaccination rates.

Government data showed that vaccinations in a national campaign launched in January averaged about 2.8 million doses per day since the peak on April 5 at 4.5 million. More than 121 million people received at least one dose, or about 9 per cent of the population.

Later Wednesday, India will allow those over 18 to register for vaccination, starting on May 1. Some 800 million people are expected to become eligible.