Lockdown calls mount in India as Covid cases and deaths hold close to record

Hospitals are still grappling with an acute shortage of oxygen and beds, while morgues and crematoriums overflow

Workers carry the body of a Covid-19 victim for his last rites at a CNG-powered crematorium in New Delhi, India. Anindito Mukherjee/Getty Images

Workers at an under-construction Covid care centre being built at the Ramllila ground, in New Delhi, amid rising coronavirus cases in the Indian capital. Anindito Mukherjee/Getty Images

Sikh devotees work as volunteers at a gurdwara in New Delhi after the Sikh shrine was partially converted into Covid care centre, amid a surge in cases in Indian capital. Anindito Mukherjee/Getty Images

A body of a Covid-19 victim is wrapped in a shroud and kept inside an ambulance at a crematorium in New Delhi, India. Anindito Mukherjee/Getty Images

Workers close the lid of a CNG furnace as the last rites of Covid-19 victims is performed at a crematorium in New Delhi, India. Anindito Mukherjee/Getty Images

A man does his household chores on the backdrop of burning funeral pyres of Covid-19 victims at a crematorium in New Delhi, India. Anindito Mukherjee/Getty Images

A woman wearing an oxygen mask breathes while resting after she arrived to receive free oxygen provided by a gurdwara in New Delhi. Anindito Mukherjee/Getty Images

Earthen urns containing the ashes of Covid-19 victims hang from a tree at a crematorium in Moradabad, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg

A health worker prepares to swab a woman at a Covid-19 testing site set up in the employment exchange office in the northern Indian city of Agra. Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg

Relatives of Covid-19 victims wait for funeral pyres to burn down outside a crematorium in northern Indian city of Moradabad. Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg

Calls grew for India to impose a nationwide lockdown as new coronavirus cases and deaths held close to record highs on Monday, increasing pressure on the federal government.

The health ministry reported 366,161 new infections and 3,754 deaths, off a little from recent peaks. India's tally of infections now stands at 22.66 million, with 246,116 deaths.

As many hospitals grapple with an acute shortage of oxygen and beds while morgues and crematoriums overflow, experts have said India's actual figures could be far higher than reported.

The 1.47 million samples tested on Sunday for Covid-19 were this month's lowest yet, data from the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research showed. The figure compared with a daily average of 1.7 million for the first eight days of May.

Many states have imposed strict lockdowns over the past month, while others have adopted curbs on movement and shut cinemas, restaurants, pubs and shopping malls.

But pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce a nationwide lockdown as he did during the first wave of infections last year.

He is battling criticism for allowing huge gatherings at a religious festival and holding large election rallies during the past two months even as cases surged.

"A failure of governance of epic and historic proportions," Vipin Narang, a political science professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, said on Twitter.

On Sunday, top White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said he had advised Indian authorities they needed to shut down.

"You’ve got to shut down," Mr Fauci said on ABC's "This Week" television show. "I believe several of the Indian states have already done that, but you need to break the chain of transmission. And one of the ways to do that is to shut down."

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has also called for a "complete, well-planned, pre-announced" lockdown.

Family members perform the last rites of a Covid-19 victim at a makeshift cremation ground in New Delhi. EPA

New Delhi, the capital, entered the fourth week of lockdown, with tougher curbs such as the shutdown of the suburban rail network, while residents scrambled for scarce hospital beds and oxygen supplies.

"This is not the time to be lenient," Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday.

"This phase is so tough, this wave is so dangerous, so many people are dying...the priority at this hour is to save lives," he said in a televised address.

Late on Sunday, the northern state of Uttarakhand said it would impose curfew from Tuesday until May 18, just days after mass religious gatherings held in the state became virus super spreading events.

Shops selling fruits, vegetables and dairy items will stay open for some hours in the morning, while malls, gyms, theatres, bars and liquor shops are among the enterprises that will be shut, the government said.