Coronavirus in India: Death is everywhere

Daisy Das is just one of hundreds of thousands of victims of Kovid-19 in India. She was healthy, with no previous illnesses. But the virus quickly struck her lungs. The 51-year-old woman was a representative of the Catholic minority in India, writes Deutsche Welle.

Therefore, after her death, she was not cremated as Hindus are. Her cousin Anthony Patrick attended the funeral last Saturday in absentia via video conference. Many people are not allowed to attend the funerals of coronavirus deaths in India.

3700 victims in just one day

“The fact that I couldn’t attend the funeral was bad enough. But even worse, we weren’t allowed to visit her in the hospital and she was completely alone at this difficult time,” said Patrick, who works. at the correspondent’s office of the German television ARD in New Delhi.
Every day, thousands of Indian families experience something similar. Their loved ones die from Kovid – often very painful and all alone. Daisy still found a free bed in an intensive care unit of a hospital, she was even included in command breathing, but it was too late.
On the day of Daisy Das’s funeral in India, 3,700 people died from Kovid-19 – a new sad record for the country. However, according to many Indian media, the official death toll does not reflect reality. Experts say many deaths are not reported at all by official statistics. Many of the crematoria are already without firewood.

Against the background of the catastrophic situation in the country, Dr. Randip Guleria, director of AIIMS – one of the renowned hospitals in India, called on the news television NDTV for decisive steps. At least in areas with a very high incidence, covering more than 10 percent of the population, we need an aggressive lockdown. And when I say “aggressive”, I mean just that, and not some restrictions only on weekends or a ban on leaving home. “We need to bring back the strict lockdown we had last year,” he warned.

The pressure on the rulers is growing

There has been a huge shortage of medical oxygen in India for days. And over the weekend, various hospitals complained of a lack of oxygen. “Seeing patients die because we don’t have enough oxygen is awful for everyone in our profession,” said Dr. Guleria.

The difficult situation in the country increases the pressure on the Indian government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised an additional 550 patient breathing systems, but that will take time. And many patients can’t wait.

Meanwhile, shipments of aid from around the world continue to arrive in New Delhi. So far, a total of 40 countries have sent medical equipment, medicines and protective clothing. 120 artificial respirators arrived from Germany on Saturday, and a mobile patient respiration plant will be completed this week. To this end, a team of paramedics arrived in Germany from the Bundeswehr.

– .