Life and death on the streets of Mumbai as India's Covid crisis escalates

India, a country of 1.4 billion people, is facing a dire Covid situation as cases and deaths spiral, its already overburdened healthcare system struggling with the influx of coronavirus patients.

Rebecca Bundhun, a reporter in Mumbai, home to some 20 million people, located in the state of Maharashtra, the worst-hit state in India in terms of numbers of coronavirus infections and deaths, has seen first hand the impact of the virus on the city.The normally bustling, fast-paced city is unrecognisable amid Covid-19 restrictions as it tries to cope with the strain on a healthcare system that was already overstretched before the pandemic.The situation is compounded by a shortage of vaccines. Low stocks has forced some vaccination centres closed while others are overwhelmed, the sheer numbers making social distancing impossible, potentially fuelling the spread of the very virus they are to be inoculated for.

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