The second wave of COVID-19 sweeps India

The second wave of COVID-19 infections in India has completely overwhelmed the country’s medical infrastructure as families urgently demand oxygen and other life-saving supplies on social media.

In the capital New Delhi, the mortuary is in use Mass cremation Deal with the bodies of COVID victims. In some hospitals, because there is no ventilator inside, patients can only sit outside the ambulance and wait.

Volunteers have also been stepping up to help solve supply problems, including Indian care, A community of more than 3,000 people who use social media to get everything from blood donors to oxygen and medicine.

Mohd Saqib, a 23-year-old student who recently participated in the organization, told BuzzFeed News that the number of people seeking help is increasing every day.

“We are losing our Indian family every day,” Saqib said. “when a person [makes a] Request, and then after a while we know that the same person is no longer there, this moment is the worst. “

in a emergency meeting Under the auspices of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Narendra Modi), officials agreed to divert oxygen for industrial use to meet emergency medical needs, and use the country’s transportation network to deliver supplies to the most quickly. Need state.

Modi also called on all countries to take stronger action against potential stockpiling.

In the first year of the pandemic, India survived the worst period of COVID-19.Although this country ranks fourth in the world Official global death tollAfter the United States, Brazil and Mexico, its mortality rate is very low relative to its population of nearly 1.4 billion. As India enters 2021, it appears to have contained the disease, as the number of cases and deaths has fallen from the peak in September.

But since March, there has been a surge in infections in the country, suspected to be caused by a new variant of the coronavirus called B.1.617.India’s National Institute of Virology reports that this variant has Transmission leader,Appear in Approximately 61% of test cases In a province last week.It is sometimes called a “double mutation” variant because it contains two mutations related to increased infectivity; its role in the Indian epidemic Not clear yet Because of the limited medical testing of the variants there.

Now, about one-third of the COVID-19 cases recorded every day around the world occur in India, and the rate of new infections is growing faster than any other country. Approximately 2,000 COVID-related deaths are also recorded there every day, accounting for about one-sixth of the global total.But one Analysis of British “Financial Times” According to cremation records, many people who died of COVID-19 in India are not included in official statistics.

Giridhar R. Babu, an epidemiologist at the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), warned that as the healthcare system is on the verge of collapse, this “will not be the last wave, nor will it be the last wave of a pandemic.”

In the interview Local averageBabu said that the current situation in India should be a global concern.

Babu said: “If disease control is neglected in some parts of the world, all other areas are at risk of imported infections.” “We need to strictly and carefully review the country’s COVID situation while expanding vaccine coverage.

“Strong public health leadership and resources should be provided to establish a permanent system, including strengthening COVID-19 epidemiological and genomic surveillance to detect the epidemic. If we do not attach great importance to strengthening the health system, especially not strengthening human resource recruitment and For capacity building, it is unrealistic to expect tangible benefits.”

The situation in India is partly blamed on the government. Critics include the chairman of PHFI, Accuse The Modi government was supposed to make every effort to strengthen the country’s medical infrastructure, but it announced its victory over the virus prematurely.

Instead, the Indian electoral authorities announced Key election In five states, the country’s cricket committee gave the green light for an international game, stadiums were crowded with spectators, Hindu festivals Big pot Brought millions of people to Haridwar for this sacred occasion.

The escalating COVID-19 crisis in India is also very bad news for global efforts to vaccinate people against the coronavirus.The Indian Serum Institute in Pune is the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines and its mission is The first 200 million doses The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine version for COVAX, a collaboration between WHO, the Alliance for Epidemic Prevention Innovation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, aims to provide affordable vaccines to developing countries around the world.

But the introduction of domestic vaccines in India has been struggling. Only 1.4% of the population The COVID-19 vaccine has been fully vaccinated. In late March, India suspends vaccine exports Shift the supply of AstraZeneca vaccine to its own vaccination campaign.

Serum Institute of India Signed an agreement Once approved, the coronavirus vaccine developed by the US company Novavax will produce about 1 billion doses. Therefore, further pressure to use the country’s vaccine manufacturing capacity to advance its faltering plan will have a ripple effect on a global scale.India Also argued The United States’ export controls on the raw materials used to make vaccines will hinder its ability to meet global demand.

The U.S. is also under pressure to donate About 20 million doses An unused AstraZeneca vaccine that has not been authorized for use by the FDA.AstraZeneca says there will be soon 30 million U.S. dose Ready, although the United States Agree to send In March, 4 million doses were injected into Canada and Mexico. When asked about donating these AstraZeneca stocks, Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said on Friday that “as our confidence in our own supply increases,” the United States “will explore The option of shipping excess vaccine overseas”.He pointed to President Joe Biden’s $4 billion pledge Joining COVAX in February shows that the country supports global vaccination.

At the same time, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that the CDC is negotiating with Indian health officials and providing technical assistance.

“This is a terrible situation and we are doing everything we can to help,” he said. “Obviously, they need to get their people vaccinated.”