A top scientific adviser to the Indian government warned the country would inevitably face further waves of the coronavirus pandemic. The warning was made on Wednesday when almost 4,000 people died on the same day.

With hospitals scrabbling for beds and oxygen to try to respond to a deadly second surge in infections, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a weekly report that India accounted for nearly half the coronavirus cases reported worldwide last week and a quarter of the deaths.

There are signs that India's outbreak is spreading to its neighbors. Nepal recorded a 137% increase in cases to 31,088 last week, while Sri Lanka's COVID-19 outbreak was also growing, the WHO said.