Lifesaving oxygen aid arrives in India
As death toll hits new record
NEW DELHI (AFP) – More emergency medical aid from foreign donors to alleviate a dire oxygen shortage arrived in India yesterday, as COVID-19 deaths in the South Asian nation rose to a new record.
India is setting almost-daily records for new infections and deaths as the virus crisis engulfs overstretched hospitals in cities and spreads into rural regions.
The country of 1.3 billion reported 3,689 deaths yesterday – the highest single-day rise yet in the pandemic, to take the overall toll to more than 215,000. Just under 400,000 infections were added, bringing the total number of cases past 19.5 million.
The latest figures came as medical equipment, including oxygen-generation plants, was flown into the capital New Delhi from France and Germany as part of a huge international effort.
”We are here because we are bringing help that... will save lives,” Germany’s ambassador to India, Walter Lindner, said as 120 ventilators arrived late Saturday.
”Out there the hospitals are full. People are sometimes dying in front of the hospitals. They have no more oxygen. Sometimes (they are dying) in their cars.”
Hospitals in Delhi have continued to issue SOS calls for oxygen on social media, with the latest appeal posted by a children’s hospital on Twitter yesterday.
The plea came a day after up to a dozen patients died at a Delhi hospital amid an oxygen shortage, local media reported.
In a related development, India on Saturday opened up its inoculation drive to all adults, but supplies are running low and only online enrolments are allowed for those aged under 45.
Experts have called on the government to allow more flexibility in the vaccine rollout, particularly in poorer rural areas where there is lower internet penetration.
Meanwhile, India’s election officials yesterday started counting votes in five states from elections held in March and early April at the start of a surge in COVID-19 cases that has overwhelmed the country’s healthcare system.
The state election results are seen as a test of the impact the devastating second wave of the pandemic is having on support for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his right-wing BJP party.
The counting of votes in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry was scheduled to end yesterday as well, with results to be announced once the tallies are done.
While Modi’s ruling BJP is seeking to consolidate its hold over more states, the main opposition Congress party and regional parties hope to regain political turf.
Over 1,000 election observers will conduct the counts, with each expected to produce a negative COVID-19 test report or show they have been fully vaccinated.