Demand for oxygen up 700 percent in India since April

Demands for oxygen have risen 700 percent in India since April as the country struggles to deal with its coronavirus outbreak.

Demand for oxygen has gone up sevenfold among hospitals since the spike in cases began, a government official said, according to The Associated Press.

Countries have been attempting to help India with this surge in supply demands, including the Pentagon sending four cargo planes of “critical supplies,” which included oxygen generators, to the country.

Indian Health Minister Harsh Vardhan says that the nation has enough oxygen to cover the emergency, but is having trouble transporting it around the country.

Over the past 24 hours, India has had over 400,000 reported coronavirus cases and over 3,000 deaths.

Experts believe those numbers are much higher than reported.

The new cases sent India to over 21 million coronavirus cases, only the second country to hit that number during the pandemic.

The United Kingdom has sent over 1,000 ventilators to India and plans to send more supplies to help the country combat the increase in cases.

Experts are blaming the surge in cases on the country’s relaxed coronavirus rules that let many people gather in large crowds without masks.

Indian Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has called for a national lockdown in order to deal with the surge in cases.