Record new COVID cases were recorded in India as a large number of hospitals in the nation are struggling to deal an acute shortage of beds, medicines and oxygen, and all these have created a massive humanitarian crisis.
Data from India’s health ministry shows more than 3,498 COVID-related deaths were reported in India in the past day, and now the total number of fatalities has risen to 208,330. India has now reported more than 18.7 million cases since the onset of the pandemic, second only to the United States, which has the largest number of COVID cases among all countries in the world. Experts believes these figures are an undercount, and that the real situation may be even worse than expected.
But, authorities have yet to think of another solution to those problems, albeit the original one was only tenable for several months, as it failed to control the current outbreak. Many are disappointed, because they thought if there was another outbreak, then the authorities’ expertise in tackling the virus would safely kick in. But that never happened, as they are still struggling to deal with the worst outbreak ever.
Although train carriages which have been changed into isolation wards are coming in handy, many hospitals are still dealing with hospital beds shortages.
Distraught people are utilizing social media platforms and messaging apps via inviting other countries to help.
Meanwhile, India’s Prime Minister met with the country’s army chief on Thursday to discuss the crisis.
Experts put the blame on recently-discovered more contagious virus variants.
Social distancing measures have been in place, but Indians living in this state are believed to have been ignoring anti-virus measures. In West Bengal, Indians voted in the state elections on Thursday, with hardly any regard to social distancing.
In spite of being the world’s biggest producer of vaccines, India not only needs to deal with a large number of cases and deaths, but also needs to tackle problems brought by a lack of vaccines. A sluggish vaccination rate in India may account for the recent outbreak. As of April, only about 9 percent of India’s 1.4 billion people have got a vaccine dose.
Taking into account the fact that more people will die if the situation in India continues to worsen, many foreign nations, including the U.S., France, Germany, Ireland and Australia, have lent a helping hand by sharing raw materials for vaccine production, or sending oxygen generators and medical equipment. Even China has offered help by sending oxygen generators and face masks, despite the conflicts between the two countries.
Either way, experts believe by the middle of May, India’s oxygen supply crisis will ease as more oxygen generators will have arrived by then, and the country will be ready to cope with the current outbreak.
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