(NEXSTAR) – Due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis in India, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued a travel advisory to India.
The advisory, announced Thursday, says people should “avoid all travel” to India due to its “very high” number of COVID-19 cases.
The CDC said even fully vaccinated travelers may be “at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants and should avoid all travel to India.”
If you must travel to the country, the CDC says to get fully vaccinated and practice standard public health procedures, including masking, avoiding crowds, washing hands and staying 6 feet away from others.
India set another global record in new virus cases Thursday with more than 379,000 new infections, putting even more pressure on the country’s overwhelmed hospitals. The country of nearly 1.4 billion people has now recorded over 18 million cases, behind only the U.S., and over 200,000 deaths — though the true number is believed to be higher.
Death is so omnipresent that burial grounds are running out of space in many cities and glowing funeral pyres blaze through the night.
The few medicines known to help treat COVID-19, such as remdesivir and steroids in hospitalized patients, are scarce. The most basic treatment —oxygen therapy — is also in short supply, leading to unnecessary deaths. Even hospital beds are scarce. There were just 14 free intensive care beds available in New Delhi, a city of 29 million people, on Thursday morning.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.