India receives coronavirus aid from U.S., UK

Trainee doctors and nurses in India are being pulled from their exams to join the fight against the world's biggest COVID-19 surge.

On Tuesday, a U.S Air Force jet touched down with oxygen cylinders and aid as the U.S., UK and other countries around the world race to donate supplies amid medical shortages

India's total number of infections has soared past 20 million.

Medical experts say the actual numbers could be five to 10 times higher than that.

At this temple outside New Delhi, volunteers work under makeshift tents.

A new patient arrives every 20 minutes gasping for oxygen.

Crematoriums overloaded with corpses have become a common sight over the past few weeks.

At a hospital in the city of Pune, Dr. Mekund Penurkar returned to work just days after losing his own father to COVID-19.

He says his patients need all the help they can get.

"My father passed away on Monday. I had to start working again Wednesday, because the overall situation is so difficult, that we cannot just rest at home and see the agony of other people. Because I have been through such a situation myself, I can't leave other patients to their fate."

At least 11 states and regions have ordered lockdowns to curb the virus' spread.

But Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been reluctant to order a national lockdown for fear of economic impact.

Despite being the world's largest producer of vaccines, India does not have enough for itself.

Efforts have been hampered by a lack of raw materials and a fire at the Serum Institute, which makes the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Just 9% of the country's nearly 1.4 billion people have received a dose.