India becomes second country to report 20M COVID-19 cases

India has become the second country to report 20 million COVID-19 cases after days of record-breaking numbers.

But as the country faces a surge of cases that has overtaken the medical system, the true number of cases is likely much higher, The New York Times reported. Only the U.S. has seen more cases, according to numbers from Johns Hopkins University.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government have been criticized for the outbreak and lack of needed medical supplies at hospitals.

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi called for a national lockdown of the country in order to curb the spread.

“I just want to make it clear that a lockdown is now the only option because of a complete lack of strategy by GOI,” Gandhi said.

I just want to make it clear that a lockdown is now the only option because of a complete lack of strategy by GOI.

They allowed, rather, they actively helped the virus reach this stage where there’s no other way to stop it.

A crime has been committed against India.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 4, 2021

Experts have pointed to the lack of COVID-19 restrictions and large, mask-less gatherings, as well as a more contagious variant, as some of the reasons the virus has erupted in India.

The Indian Premier League has announced that the rest of the season will be canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Other countries have begun to send supplies to India amid the outbreak with the Pentagon sending four cargo planes of “critical supplies” to the country.

India has opened COVID-19 vaccinations up to all adults amid the surge but faces the challenge of having to vaccinate more than 1 billion people.

There were more than 368,000 reported cases of the coronavirus and more than 3,400 deaths on Monday alone, according to the Times.

New daily cases topped 400,000 on Saturday.