A real tsunami. The new wave of coronavirus, caused in part by the B.1.617 variant, is wreaking havoc in India. According to projections made by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), the death toll in India could exceed 1 million by August, assuming vaccines bring the situation under control and reach the peak of deaths on May 17.
Every minute counts
In Delhi hospitals, the situation is critical: short of oxygen, hospitals say they are totally overwhelmed by the situation. “We have less than 2 hours of oxygen“, wrote on Twitter the Moolchand Hospital in Delhi. The hospital, which explained to be desperate, was finally able to receive oxygen a few hours later. Nearly 130 Covid patients are treated there and benefit from respiratory assistance.
The situation is also critical in several other hospitals, including Batra Hospital in South Delhi and Jaipur Golden Hospital in North West Delhi. They also reported a shortage of oxygen. According to Dr DK Baluja, medical director of Jaipur Golden Hospital, this shortage has already caused the death of twenty-five people last night. “The government had allocated us 3.5 metric tonnes of oxygen. The delivery was supposed to reach us at 5 o’clock in the evening, but it arrived around midnight. By that time, 25 patients had died“Dr DK Baluja told NDTV.
The hospital sent an SOS to the government, asking them to take action to avoid the worst. “A great human tragedy is brewing in the next few minutes in our hospital. We have already lost 25 lives. We’re out of oxygen. We have our doctors in front of you. Please save lives. Please“, supplie le Jaipur Golden Hospital.
Later that day, the hospital had to call for help again. “Next impending oxygen shortage at Golden Hospital in Jaipur. More than 200 lives are at stake if oxygen is not supplied by 9 p.m. tonight“the hospital wrote on Twitter.
A “great tragedy”
In a message posted on Twitter, the Chief Minister of the City of Delhi called on his counterparts to “provide oxygen to Delhi“, both the crisis is serious. According to him,” tall available resources turn out to be inadequate“.
At a meeting of chief ministers with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, Kejriwal warned that “great tragedy“could happen due to the oxygen shortage. He also said that some states are stopping tankers carrying oxygen to Delhi.
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