India has developed into the corona hotspot in the world. The world’s most populous democracy has to manage the shortage. Thousands die because of a lack of oxygen.
New Delhi – More than 3,500 deaths in one day, 400,000 new infections with the coronavirus on May 1st alone, a total of over 200,000 deaths: The Indian pandemic record reads devastating. The 1.3 billion state is currently lacking in all corners and ends.
Even if more oxygen is produced every day in India than is actually needed and the country is the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, the clinics all over the country report the chronic shortage towards New Delhi. The long transport routes through the entire country cause problems. Too few special containers for transporting the liquid oxygen are available. And it takes too long to deliver the oxygen from the east of the country – where it is largely produced – to the financial center of Mumbai in the west and the capital New Delhi in the north of India.
Corona in India: Magel, death and hospital fires
Several people died in a hospital in New Delhi on Saturday who, according to local media reports, could not be supplied with vital oxygen for about 80 minutes. Supplies arrived after just under an hour and a half. The USA will close its borders for travelers from India from Tuesday (May 4th, 2021), Australia already no longer allows entry from India – even compatriots have to wait.
| nation | India |
|---|---|
| population | 1.366 billion (World Bank, as of 2019) |
| Form of government | Parliamentary republic |
| surface | 3,287,000 km² |
| continent | Asia |
In the southeast of the Indian capital, 62-year-old Vijay Gupta can hardly breathe, all beds are occupied. His companion told the British television broadcaster BBC: “We have been looking for a bed since 6 am this morning. Where should we go? ”Inside, they reluctantly practice triage. Who gets access to the scarce resource oxygen? Who has to die The situation is dire.
A fire in a corona infirmary in the city of Bharuch in western India kills 18 people – it is currently the last in a series of fatal hospital fires across the country this week. The crematoria are overwhelmed, some build improvised pyre in their need.
India lacks oxygen and vaccine in the fight against corona
Vaccination isn’t going really well either. Although 150 million vaccine doses have already been administered in India, only around 10 percent of the billion population are still supplied. Although no other nation produces as much vaccine as India, the people in front of hastily set up vaccination centers stand their legs in their stomachs – only to be put off for the next day after many hours. The Indian government has issued a ban on exports of the Astrazeneca vaccine – contracts have for the moment to lag behind bare survival domestically.
India currently only manages three million vaccine doses a day – there are too few. Bhramar Mukherjee, a researcher at the University of Michigan, calls for an increase to ten million. At the moment, the biostatistician, the Indian government is too “complacent”. Walter Linder, German ambassador to India, does not save with clear words. The situation is “terrible and depressing,” says the diplomat.
Corona: Thousands of people are currently dying in India every day
In the ZDF “heute journal” he reports on people in India who suffocate in their cars because they are turned away from one hospital after another. From people who choke in queues because they are not supplied with oxygen in a timely manner. The situation is a “huge blow” for the giant South Asian country. While 8,625 new infections were reported on February 1, that number shot to 401,993 new cases as of April 30. (Mirko Schmid)
Rubriklistenbild: © Rajesh Kumar Singh / dpa
