Death had not fazed gravedigger Mohammed Shamim up to now, but since the grip of the coronavirus crisis has tightened in New Delhi, a shiver runs up even his spine each time he sees a hearse pull up at the cemetery he tends.

"I've been burying the dead for the last two decades. But until now, I've never been scared for my own life," he said.

The Indian capital has become one of the country's Covid-19 hotspots, with media reports based on graveyard records saying there are 450 dead — triple the official tally.