Vox Sentences - An oxygen emergency in India

• India’s Supreme Court is ordering the government to present a plan that would address oxygen shortfalls in New Delhi hospitals. As India struggles with one of the world’s worst Covid-19 outbreaks, with over 382,000 new cases counted Wednesday, oxygen has become incredibly scarce. And the government is falling short. Just 40% of New Delhi hospitals’ oxygen needs are being met. [AP / Ashok Sharma]
• This week, India officially broke 20 million cases since the beginning of the pandemic, to go along with 222,408 deaths (both likely undercounts). Opposition leaders, such as Rahul Gandhi, and domestic business leaders are calling for a renewed nationwide lockdown. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has thus far resisted. [Reuters]
• Modi had called for state officials to consider lockdowns a last resort, advocating first for “micro-containment zones,” specific Covid-19 hot spots where movement is limited. Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore, three of India's largest cities, have each enacted full shutdowns in the absence of unified government action. [Fortune / Biman Mukherji]
• “I just want to make it clear that a lockdown is now the only option because of a complete lack of strategy” by the government, Gandhi tweeted yesterday. “They allowed, rather, they actively helped the virus reach this stage where there’s no other way to stop it. A crime has been committed against India.” [Twitter]
• Chief White House Medical Adviser Anthony Fauci encouraged Indian officials to shut down the country, and the White House began restricting travel to and from India, citing an increased risk for Covid-19 spread and variant propagation. [Axios / Oriana Gonzalez]

[Axios / Neal Rothschild]

• House Republicans have turned on Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), a frequent critic of Trump; they look set to strip her of her position as the third-highest-ranking member in the chamber. [CNN / Stephen Collinson]
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has missed the deadline to form a coalition government in the Knesset with himself in charge. His political future is in question, as President Reuven Rivlin will now likely give one of the 13 opposition parties a chance at forming a government. [Haaretz / Jonathan Lis and Jack Khoury]
• Fewer than 380,000 people have been vaccinated in Iraq, a country of 40 million, as health officials fight to vaccinate an apathetic and distrustful population amid rising case numbers. [AP / Abdulrahman Zeyad]
• It’s highly likely the Scottish Nationalist Party will win the most seats in Scotland’s election this year. What that means for supporters' hopes of a new referendum on Scottish independence is complicated. [AP / Jill Lawless and Renee Graham]