'Minute to minute struggle'

India is struggling with a second wave of the coronavirus infection and hospitals in several states are reeling under shortage of medical oxygen and beds in view of the rising COVID-19 cases. The country recorded a one-day tally of 3.32 lakh new coronavirus cases and 2,263 new fatalities, according to official data released on Friday. Gurgaon’s Artemis Hospital had a tense Friday as staff struggled to meet oxygen demands of patients because they hadn’t received their supply for the day. Officials at the hospital, which is treating 140 Covid patients, with 50 in the ICU, said at 10 am that the supply would only last three hours. Over the last few days, they said, the hospital had been receiving a third of its usual oxygen supply, even as demand had increased “three to five times”.