Amazon is pausing its annual Prime Day in India as the country battles with a massive second wave of COVID-19 infections.
In just the past week, the country has seen infections rise by 1.5 million new cases — a number that is further straining the country’s battered healthcare infrastructure.
Many Indian states, in response, have implemented strict lockdowns and curfews, which has also slowed down the delivery of online orders, Reuters reported.
The eCommerce giant is also planning to delay the shopping event in Canada, where the rate of COVID-19 infections overtook that of the U.S. for the first time last month. In other international markets, including the U.S., U.K., France, Spain and China, the event is expected to take place as planned.
In its Q1 earnings, the company announced that the event would take place in June this year — a month earlier than its typical launch date. Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky noted that moving the event to June will likely be better for customers, sellers and vendors as July is typically a popular vacation month.
Amazon had also delayed the annual Prime Day event last year to mid-October as markets across the globe struggled to contain the spread of the virus.