What is Happening in India?

It seems that whenever you turn the news on, one country is emerging from their most recent coronavirus wave while another country is diving headfirst into their next wave that is stronger and more devastating compared to their previous ones. India, unfortunately, is experiencing the worst spread of the coronavirus the world has seen to this date, and it doesn’t seem that it will be getting better anytime soon. This massive surge in cases and hospitalizations in India has led to record-setting case totals per day, hospitals working to the brink of their abilities, and having to turn people who seek their care away, crematoriums working more than they ever have had to, and their rapidly depleting oxygen supply.

Scientists and researchers believe that the significant rise in cases can be attributed to more gatherings between people since people began to think India had gotten over COVID-19 since late last year, as well as the country not vaccinating their population as fast as other countries, and lastly, the emergence of many new variations of the virus. India’s first wave had included days in which the highest amount of cases reported were 100,000. For this wave, India has set the record for the number of new infections reported each day, a little over 350,000 as of April 27. This means that this wave has contained more than double the infections of the previous one, and it doesn’t even seem that the curve is on the downward path, it’s still at its peak. The number of people being affected is scaring the population so much, the wealthy class of India is booking their own private jets to fly out of India before countries put travel bans into place that won’t allow planes flying out of India to land in their countries’ airports.

With more infections, there are more severe cases of the coronavirus. As a result, hospitals are forced to strain themselves to their limits and beyond. Since the hospitals have to treat so many people, they are short of many crucial supplies: oxygen, beds, medicine, and ventilators. Hospitals are not able to have enough beds available that families are bringing their loved ones who need attention to hospitals only to be turned away. Some families then try to have their relatives treated in the hospital parking lot or in the streets. Families have even rushed to buy their own oxygen tanks - or they have stolen them from hospitals - and are driving their relatives hooked up to their own supply of oxygen in cars, looking for a hospital anywhere that will be able to take them in.

It is saddening that hospitals aren’t the only places that are overcrowded, crematoriums are as well. Fires at the crematoriums are raging day and night, showing that the death toll from the coronavirus is unbelievably high. In some places, they have had to build temporary crematoriums to keep up with the number of people dying. They have also needed to cremate multiple people at a time. It is also believed that the death toll hasn’t been reported correctly, and according to Bhramar Mukherjee - an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan - the death toll is thought to be two to five times higher than what it is said by the government. This may be because families are too afraid or ashamed to admit that a relative has passed away due to the virus, or the health officials aren’t counting all of the people who have passed away due to this, or even they choose not to release the real number to the public. As of April 27, the death count is 198,000 but if the deaths are undercounted, then the actual toll can be about 990,000 deaths.

So many patients in the hospitals in India require oxygen to be given to them so that they can survive, which has led to a massive demand for oxygen. Private companies - like The Steel Authority of India, Tata Group, and Jindal Steel - in India are helping the hospitals out by delivering tank trucks that are filled with liquid oxygen. Some hospitals have been begging for oxygen, and they are promised a time in which it will be given but the promise is not followed through. An example of this is the Jaipur Golden Hospital which had been told by the government 3.6 tonnes of oxygen would be delivered to them by 5 pm on April 23, but it had only arrived at midnight and not all of the promised amount was given. It may not seem like that was a big deal, but if a hospital doesn’t have oxygen, then patients will die immediately because they rely so heavily on it. This is exactly what happened at the same hospital one night when 20 people died since there wasn’t enough.

India is going through something that no country should go through alone, and so the US has stepped in to send their aid. What India is going through is a reminder that COVID-19 is still here today, regardless of the fact that your country may have lowered the daily case total significantly. That is why we must do all that we can so that we won’t go through what India is going through now, and we can do that by getting vaccinated when it is our turn, wearing a mask, and socially distancing as well as holding off on social gatherings for some time. We have to do our best to lessen the load our front-line workers will have on their shoulders. It's been more than a year of this pandemic and people are tired, but we must stay vigilant and do all that we can to stop the spread.

Until next time, Keerthana

Sources:

1. India's massive COVID surge puzzles scientists News | 21 APR 2021

2. India sets Covid-19 infection record for fourth straight day

3. India: Rich Flee on Private Jets As COVID-19 Cases Hits Global Record

4. Indian hospitals turn away patients in COVID-19 ‘tsunami’

5. As Covid-19 Devastates India, Deaths Go Undercounted

6. India Covid surge: Hospitals send SOS as record deaths registered

7. As Covid sweeps India, experts say cases and deaths are going unreported

8. Free Vector | Covid-19 abstract concept vector illustration. coronavirus worldwide, pandemic, covid-19 victims, infection outbreak, statistics, death toll, emergency state, quarantine measure abstract metaphor.