Covid-19 Second Wave Harms India
Image: News24
Written by Carmen Kimura
The pandemic in India has never been worse. No other country has hit over 400,000 reported cases of Covid-19 in a single day (Zhong). About 3,500 deaths occur on a daily basis. Although they claim to have about 19 million confirmed cases of Covid-19, experts claim that the real numbers of cases are possibly much higher (Zhong).
Hospitals are Running Out of Room and Supplies
Due to rising numbers of patients flooding hospitals, the hospital system is overstressed. Covid-19 isn’t the only reason people are dying in these hospitials. The people of India are begging for precious goods such as oxygen, medicine, vaccines, and other needed supplies (Zhong). Twenty-two patients have died near the state of Maharastra becaues of a leak that cut off their oxygen supply. Bed shortages and limited space are not the main conflict, and expanding the number of beds would be no good without a larger wiring system. When wires are being overwored, they start to overheat (Barnagarwala).
Hospital Fires
The overheating electrical wiring system makes the hospital prone to fires. Fire experts blame the hospital system because that can’t reduce the number of patients and it is causing a major fire hazard (Barnagarwala). They had 11 major hospital fires and 13 less severe ones as well (Barnagarwala). From August, 43 deaths took place in Maharashtra and 35 in Gujarat (Barnagarwala). The most recent fire in Bharuch killed 16 patients and two health care workers (Barnagarwala). In total these fires have killed as many as 93 people and the majority were Covid-19 patients.
Vaccine Shortage
Less than 2 percent of India’s 940 million adults have been fully vaccinated. Ironically, the largest vaccine manufacturing factory in the world is located in India. India exports more vaccines than any other country! So why can’t India distribute vaccines amongst their own citizens? According to Adar Poonwalla the head of India’s vaccine manufacture, says that they are “making profit, but not enough to reinvest.” He says that he “would need to furter build capacity, innovate, and compete with the western companies, but we don’t care about that at the moment because we want to address the needs of the nation first before anything else.” For the next two months, he states that India will be their top priority for vaccines, and hopes that other countries would be understanding of India’s current situation. Poonwalla also says that “everything that we’re making we’re delivering to the government of India,” meaning that there are no stockpiles just lying around. He claims to be very stressed and feels a lot of pressure for vaccines globally.
Poverty Rate Increases
The poverty rates in India have doubled since the beginning of the pandemic. Around 230 million Indians fell into poverty (Channel News Asia). Due to the lockdown 100 million people are out of work, and many are desperately searching for a job (Channel News Asia). Families have to ration food and limit the amount they consume on a daily basis. These people earn a maximum of two U.S. dollars a day (Kochhar).
United States Response
The U.S. as well as Australia, Britain, and Canada restricted travel from India to minimize deaths and excess chaos. Other countries without travel restrictions will require negative test results before traveling back to the U.S. from India, and an additional quarantine if not already vaccinated.
The U.S. government pledges their support to help aid India. The White House press secretary Jen Psaki stated that the military cargo planes are delivering supplies to India, which was promised by the Biden administration.
What You Can Do to Help
Keep in mind that the people are also dying due to pandemic related causes, and not just the virus alone. Try to limit travel from India until things are relatively normal. Remember, the most important thing you can do right now is to donate and spread the word.
Sources
Barnagarwala, Tabassum. “Explained: Behind frequent hospital fires in India.” The Indian Express, 5 May 2021.
Channel News Asia. “COVID- 19 pandemic drove 230 million people in India into poverty: Study.” cna, 6 May 2021.
Kochhar, Rakesh. “In the pandemic, India's middle class shrinks and poverty spreads while China sees smaller changes.” Pew Research Center, 18 March 2021.
Zhong, Raymond. “A deadly hospital fire adds to the misery in India, and the U.S. imposes travel restrictions.” The New York Times, 30 April 2021.