India experiencing ‘tsunami’ of COVID cases, thousands of Australians still trying to come home

In Delhi alone, the daily death toll rose to over 26,000.(Reuters: Danish Siddiqui)

Australia’s High Commissioner to India has described the country’s second wave of COVID-19 as a “tsunami”.

The number of cases in India has surged by nearly 350,000 in the past 24 hours, the fourth-straight day of record peaks.

The rise in cases is overwhelming the country’s medical systems and has led to mass cremations in makeshift areas like carparks.

In response, India’s capital has extended its lockdown for an extra week.

Barry O’Farrell said the nation’s worst fears about the virus were now being confirmed.

“[Last year] started well here in India, daily case numbers had trended down, positivity rates were low, the economy was returning to a new normal,” he told Nine Radio.

The manager of a Facebook group for Australians stranded in India said more people than ever wanted to come home.

“[People are] extraordinarily desperate to get out, not just now, they’ve been desperate to get out the last fourteen months,” Joh Gwynn said.

Ms Gwynn said people who were booked to return to Australia have had their flights cancelled.

“There’s a real worry that an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident might die in India if they can’t get back to Australia,” she said.

“It’s so heartbreaking because only a couple of days ago DFAT announced eight flights to get people back from India and then just three days later we’ve had half of those DFAT flights cancelled.”

ABC