India will recruit hundreds of former army medics to support its overwhelmed healthcare system, Reuters quoted the defence ministry as saying, as the country grapples with record Covid-19 infections and deaths amid angry calls for a complete nationwide lockdown.

Some 400 medical officers are expected to serve on contract for a maximum of 11 months, the ministry said in a press release, adding that other defence doctors had also been roped in for online consultations.

Reuters reports that pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce a nationwide lockdown as it did during the first wave last year. The Indian Medical Association has called for a "complete, well-planned, pre-announced" lockdown instead of "sporadic" night curfews and restrictions imposed by states for a few days at a time.