India tops 200,000 COVID deaths as virus surge breaks health system

India marked a grim milestone Wednesday with 200,000 people lost to COVID-19 — as a relentless surge of new cases overwhelms hospitals, sends families searching for oxygen supplies, and has seen parking lots in the capital New Delhi converted into crematoriums.

The health ministry reported a single-day record of 3,293 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the world’s second-most populous country’s total fatalities to 201,187. India, a country of nearly 1.4 billion people, also reported 362,757 new infections, a new global record, which raised the overall total past 17.9 million.