'No one should die': Volunteers provide oxygen as India's COVID tally
nears 20 million
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[May 03, 2021]
By Adnan Abidi and Shilpa Jamkhandikar
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's tally
of coronavirus infections rose on Monday to just short of 20 million,
propelled by a 12th straight day of more than 300,000 new cases, as
scientists predicted the pandemic could peak in the next couple of days.
Total infections since the start of the pandemic have reached 19.93
million, swelled by 368,147 new cases over the past 24 hours, while the
death toll rose by 3,417 to 218,959, health ministry data show. At least
3.4 million people are currently being treated.
But medical experts say actual numbers could be five to 10 times higher.
Hospitals have filled to capacity, supply of medical oxygen has run
short and morgues and crematoriums have been swamped as the country
grapples with the surge. Patients are dying on hospital beds, in
ambulances and in carparks outside.
"Every time we have to struggle to get our quota of our oxygen
cylinders," said B.H. Narayan Rao, a district official in the southern
town of Chamarajanagar, where 24 COVID-19 patients died, some from a
suspected shortage of oxygen supplies.
"It's a day-to-day fight," added Rao, as he described the hectic
scramble for supplies.
In many cases, volunteer groups have come to the rescue.
Outside a temple in the capital, New Delhi, a group of Sikh volunteers
is providing oxygen to patients lying on benches inside makeshift tents,
hooked up to a giant cylinder. Every 20 minutes or so, a new patient
comes in.
"No one should die because of a lack of oxygen. It's a small thing
otherwise, but nowadays, it is the one thing every one needs," Gurpreet
Singh Rummy, who runs the service, told Reuters. He called it an oxygen
"langar", the word used by Sikhs for a communal free kitchen.
Offering a glimmer of hope, the health ministry said positive cases
relative to the number of tests fell on Monday for the first time since
at least April 15.
Modelling by a team of government advisers shows coronavirus cases could
peak by Wednesday this week, a few days earlier than a previous
estimate, since the virus has spread faster than expected.
At least 11 states and regions have ordered curbs on movement to stem
infections, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is reluctant
to announce a national lockdown, concerned about the economic impact.
"In my opinion, only a national stay at home order and declaring medical
emergency will help to address the current healthcare needs," Bhramar
Mukherjee, an epidemiologist with the University of Michigan, said on
Twitter.
"The number of active cases is accumulating, not just the daily new
cases. Even the reported numbers state there are around 3.5 million
active cases."
CRISIS TESTS MODI
As medical facilities near breaking point, the government postponed an
exam for doctors and nurses on Monday to allow some of those still in
training to join the coronavirus battle alongside existing personnel, it
said in a statement.
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Mukesh Bhardwaj cries as he sits next to his wife, who receives
oxygen support for free for people suffering from breathing
problems, outside a Gurudwara (Sikh temple), amidst the spread of
the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Ghaziabad, India, May 3,
2021. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
India is in the grip of its biggest crisis since Modi took office in
2014.
He has been criticised for not moving sooner to limit the spread and
for letting millions of largely unmasked people attend religious
festivals and crowded political rallies in five states during March
and April.
In early March, a forum of government scientific advisers warned
officials of a new and more contagious variant of the coronavirus
taking hold, five of its members told Reuters.
Despite the warning, four of the scientists said the federal
government did not seek to impose major curbs.
With the next general election due in 2024, it remains to be seen
Modi's handling of the crisis might affect him or his party. His
Hindu nationalist party was defeated on Sunday in a state poll in
the eastern state of West Bengal, although it won in the
neighbouring state of Assam.
Leaders of 13 opposition parties urged Modi in a letter on Sunday to
immediately launch free national vaccination and to prioritise
oxygen supply to hospitals and health centres.
Several states have postponed widening a vaccination drive for
adults that was to start on Saturday due to a lack of vaccines.
Despite being the world's biggest producer of vaccines, India does
not have enough for itself. Just 9% of a population of 1.35 billion
has received a dose.
India has struggled to increase capacity beyond 80 million doses a
month due to lack of raw materials and a fire at the Serum
Institute, which makes the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Another manufacturer, Pfizer Inc, is in talks with the government
for "expedited approval" of its vaccine, Chief Executive Albert
Bourla said on LinkedIn, announcing a donation of medicines worth
more than $70 million.
Last month, India said its drugs regulator would hand down a
decision within three days on emergency-use applications for foreign
vaccines, including that of Pfizer.
International aid has poured in, in response to the crisis.
Britain will send another 1,000 ventilators to India, the government
said on Sunday. Prime ministers Boris Johnson and Modi are set to
talk on Tuesday.
The Indian COVID-19 variant has now reached at least 17 countries
including Britain, Iran and Switzerland, spurring several nations to
close borders to travellers from India.
(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta and Anuron Kumar Mitra; Additional
reporting by Sachin Ravikumar in Bengaluru; Writing by Michael
Perry; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Clarence Fernandez and Raju
Gopalakrishnan)
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