Indian capital New Delhi will stay in lockdown for another week because of the surge in Covid cases, the megacity's chief minister said.

“Lockdown in Delhi is being extended by one week,” Arvind Kejriwal said on Twitter.

The current shutdown had been due to expire on Monday but the number of cases is still rising fast in the city of 20 million people, AFP reported.

The city's hospitals have been overwhelmed, with lethal shortages of beds, drugs and oxygen meaning many people have been dying outside without treatment. Many of Delhi's graveyards are now full and many crematoriums are working around the clock and burning bodies in waste ground and car parks.