India is facing a severe Covid crisis. With over 316,000 cases and over 183,000 deaths, it ‘leads the world in the daily average number of new infections reported, accounting for one in every four infections worldwide each day.’ The country ‘has descended into a tragedy of unprecedented proportions.’
Covid is infecting hundreds of thousands of people on a daily basis, claiming tens of thousands of lives. ‘Almost 1.6 million cases have been registered in a week, bringing total cases to more than 15 million. In the space of just 12 days, the Covid positivity rate doubled to 17%, while in Delhi it hit 30%.’
It’s total pandemonium. The healthcare infrastructure is bursting at the seams. Hospitals across the country are filled with Covid patients. This time, the virus is infecting young people–many of them in their 20s and 30s are experiencing ‘very severe symptoms and there is a lot of mortality among young people.’ In Delhi, 65% of cases are under 40 years old.
Ambulances are queuing up outside hospitals with patients in them; there is a severe shortage of hospital beds. There is a severe shortage of medicines. Pharmacists and retailers are selling medicines in the black market at a hugely inflated price–almost 200 times more than the Maximum Retail Price. India, the proverbial ‘pharmacy of the world,’ is unable to provide medicines to its own citizens when they need them the most. There is a severe shortage of testing too.
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