In pictures: India's fight against omicron variant

Densely packed streets like this one in Delhi provide fertile ground for the highly transmissible COVID-19 omicron variant. In just a week, the number of new infections in India has doubled to nearly 120,000 each day. Experts are warning that rising case numbers could soon overwhelm the country's hospitals.

Omicron infections are reportedly relatively mild in many cases. But if too many workers in key sectors of the economy fall ill, it could lead to chaos. The Indian government has so far shied away from announcing a complete lockdown, mindful of the already bleak economic situation in the country. Instead, it's relying on increased testing as seen here in the city of Ahmedabad, in western India.

So far, doctors and nurses have remained optimistic. They say patients who are being admitted to hospitals are rarely severe cases. And by now, health workers have the benefit of experience. "Last year, we didn't know what exactly we were dealing with. I think now, mentally, it's a little better," a front-line worker at a Delhi hospital told news agency AFP.

In the Indian capital, New Delhi, the daily infection rate has soared fivefold. The government has announced a limited lockdown of 55 hours starting Friday evening. People will no longer be able to head to markets like this one in the old city quarter for shopping. Similar rules could be introduced in further states in the country.

India appears to be better positioned to weather omicron than it was during last year's devastating wave driven by the delta variant. At the time, the health care system collapsed in many parts of the country and medical oxygen was in short supply. This time around, authorities have raised storage capacity for vital oxygen cylinders, as seen here at a facility for COVID-19 patients in New Delhi.

India's health service workers have managed to adminster nearly 1.5 billion doses of the vaccine, with nearly two-thirds of the country now fully immunized, according to government figures. The vaccine campaign, combined with the immunity conferred during the last delta wave of infections, could help reduce the impact of the fast-spreading omicron variant.