Pankaj Solanki, a doctor and the director of a small hospital in New Delhi, rushed to an oxygen vendor earlier this week to secure enough cylinders to keep 10 COVID-19 patients on the ICU ward breathing.

His supplies would only last until Thursday night, and so he has sent a driver out to try to find more.

"It is mental agony. I can't bear it any more. What if something happens to the patients?" he said.