People — many without masks — shop at a vegetable market in Mumbai. India has been struggling to contain a massive coronavirus outbreak, with nearly 24 million infections recorded to date. The country has logged around 260,000 deaths linked to the virus. According to medical experts, these numbers are vastly underreported.

A young man unloads empty oxygen cylinders for refilling in Srinagar, Kashmir. India's health infrastructure has been under severe stress in recent days, with several states reeling under the shortage of medical oxygen, essential drugs, beds, health workers and vaccines, among other vital supplies.

Volunteers at a nonprofit organization carry bags full of unclaimed ashes belonging to COVID-19 victims at a crematorium in New Delhi. As the intense second coronavirus wave grips India, apocalyptic scenes of mass cremations have emerged, as queues of bodies wait outside overwhelmed crematoriums.

A man bathes in cow milk to remove cow dung from his body during "cow dung therapy" at a cow shelter on the outskirts of the city of Ahmedabad. Participants believe cow excrement boosts their bodies' ability to defend against the virus. The Indian government has faced heightened criticism for ignoring scientific evidence and warnings about variants.

A worker carries bricks on her head in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the B.1.617 coronavirus variant — first detected in India last October — as a "variant of concern." Epidemiologists note that this variant may be more resistant to vaccines.

Policemen check the credentials of delivery personnel from India's leading food delivery service, Zomato, in the southern city of Kochi. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has refused to announce a nationwide lockdown over economic concerns, several states have imposed strict restrictions and nighttime curfews to curb spread of the virus.

A woman arrives at a bus stand in Jaipur to leave for her hometown, after authorities in the western state of Rajasthan announced a lockdown. Many people have left bigger cities for their towns and villages in order to avoid a repeat of the massive migrant crisis that accompanied India's first coronavirus lockdown last year.

A young man is seen carrying cans of beer as liquor shops in several districts of Uttar Pradesh are reopened. The northern state, led by Modi ally Yogi Adityanath, has registered one of the largest outbreaks in the country. In recent days, several bodies have washed up on the shores of the river Ganges, which runs through the state. Many believe that they belong to victims of the virus.

Catholic nuns wear protective face masks as they wait to cast their votes outside a polling station in Kolkata. The government has been under fire for holding regional elections and massive rallies during a time when the country was descending into chaos over the new surge. Since the onset of the pandemic, West Bengal state has recorded more than 1.05 million infections so far.

A man dressed as a clown sprays disinfectant outside a house in Mumbai. He told Reuters that he wears other different costumes aside from dressing up as a clown to raise awareness and spread information about the coronavirus. Many in India fear that the second wave is far from stemmed and if the virus spreads unabated, mass grief and mourning may soon be replaced by apathy.

India has added hundreds of thousands of cases in recent days, and the total death toll has surpassed 220,000. Cities are running out of space to bury or cremate the dead.

An elderly woman suffering from breathing difficulties due to COVID-19 waits to receive free supplemental oxygen outside a Sikh temple on the outskirts of Delhi in Ghaziabad. Many who are struggling for breath due to COVID-19 have flocked to the temple, hoping to secure some of its limited oxygen supplies.

Hospitals in Delhi and across the country are turning away patients after running out of medical oxygen and beds. Many have put out urgent notices saying they can't cope with the rush of patients. The Sikh temple in Ghaziabad has come to resemble the emergency ward of a hospital. People all across Delhi are seeking and creating makeshift health care spaces.

A health care worker tests blood oxygen levels of a COVID patient inside an ambulance in the eastern city of Kolkata. With people being forced to wait many hours to receive treatment, doctors have been treating people in cars and taxis parked in front of hospitals.

A couple wait inside a rickshaw until they can enter a COVID-19 hospital for treatment in the western city of Ahmedabad. Social media and local news footage have captured desperate relatives begging for oxygen outside hospitals or weeping in the street for loved ones who have died waiting for treatment.

A young boy at a crematorium mourns the loss of his father, who died from COVID-19. In the last month alone, daily COVID cases in India have increased eight times over — and deaths, 10 times. Health experts have said the actual death toll is probably far higher than the official numbers.

This 35-year-old woman is suffering from breathing difficulties due to COVID-19. Like many others, she is waiting in front of a hospital to receive oxygen support. Scientists are concerned that a more infectious "double mutation" of the virus is spreading in India.

The family of a COVID victim mourn together outside a mortuary of a hospital in New Delhi. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said India's current infection wave is "particularly dangerous" and that people were falling sick more severely and for longer. "It is supremely contagious, and those who are contracting it are not able to recover as swiftly."

The unfolding crisis is most noticeable in India's overwhelmed graveyards and crematoriums. Burial grounds in the capital New Delhi are running out of space. In other cities, glowing funeral pyres light up the night sky. "The virus is swallowing our city's people like a monster,'' said Mamtesh Sharma, an official at Bhadbhada Vishram Ghat crematorium in the central city of Bhopal.

India's vaccination program is lagging, with only 10% of the country's population having received one dose, and 1.5% having received both doses. Indians aged 18 and older are now eligible for a vaccine. The United States has said it would send raw materials for vaccine production to help strengthen India's capacity to manufacture more AstraZeneca vaccine.