Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has warned that the resurgence of coronavirus in the country is like being “hit by a storm” as new infections exceed 250,000 a day, with hospitals at risk of being overwhelmed and cremated in some areas. non-stop.
His government is facing growing criticism for crisis management, as oxygen, drugs, tests and hospital beds remain extremely low in the worst-hit areas. However, Modi said that despite the huge scale of the health crisis, blockages should be seen as a last resort.
Fresh concerns about the second wave of Covid-19 arose when British Prime Minister Boris Johnson canceled a planned trip earlier this week and India was added to the “red list” of travel in the UK, on the background of concern about a new variant that has emerged in the country.
In a national speech on Tuesday, Modi tried to reassure Indians with promises of vaccines for all those over the age of 19 and gathering praise for the country’s pharmaceutical industry.
“The country is fighting a very big fight against Covid-19 today. The situation improved for a while, but the second wave of Covid-19 came like a storm “, said Modi.
“I express my condolences to all those who lost their loved ones because of Covid-19. Like a member of your family, I am with you in this hour of sorrow. The battle is long and difficult, but we must overcome it with our devotion and courage. “
Modi’s address came just hours after he met with video conferencing vaccine makers and asked them to increase production.
However, it was unclear how credible this effort was likely following last week’s call by India’s largest vaccine maker, Serum Institute of India, for US President Joe Biden to “lift the embargo on material exports.” raw materials ”to allow more vaccine production.
His speech followed the growing anger of the Indian prime minister, who was criticized for still addressing tens of thousands of people at state election rallies and for letting Hindu supporters gather for a festival. , with hashtags like #ResignModi and #SuperSpreaderModi on Twitter.
India’s experience with coronavirus seemed to face the trend of other countries, with cases reaching a high of more than 100,000 a day last year, before falling to almost 10,000 a day in the first months of this year in a country of 1.3 billions of people.
However, cases have started screaming back in recent weeks, but India seems unprepared for a second wave on the scale that has emerged.
As New Delhi, the capital, rushed to turn schools into hospitals, abandoned field hospitals in the affected cities were reopened.
A key problem has been the lack of oxygen in many places, with India trying to import oxygen, while redirecting oxygen supply from industry to hospitals.
Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, run by the New Delhi government, is raising beds for patients with Covid-19 from 46 to 160. But R Meneka, the official coordinating Covid-19’s response to the hospital, said he was not sure if the facility had the capacity to to provide oxygen to so many beds.
The government-run hospital in Burari, an industrial center on the outskirts of the capital, had only two days of oxygen on Monday and found that most of the city’s vendors had run out, said Ramesh Verma, who coordinates the Covid-19 response there.
“Every minute, we get hundreds of calls for beds,” he said.
Shahid Malik, who works for a small oxygen supplier, said the demand for medical oxygen has increased by a factor of 10. His phone has been ringing continuously for two days.
Until Monday, the store still had oxygen, but no bottles. He answered every call with the same message: “If you have your own cylinder, come and get oxygen. If not, we can’t help you. ”
Among those who criticized the response was A Velumani, president and CEO of Thyrocare, one of India’s largest private testing labs, which said the current demand is three times higher than last year.
The labs were not prepared for the sharp rise in demand for testing that came with the current rise, Velumani said, and everyone was “caught with their pants down.”
India’s vaccination effort is also battling several states that report shortages, although the federal government has said there are enough stocks.
On Monday, he said he would soon expand vaccinations to include every adult in the country, about 900 million people. However, given the short-range global vaccine, it is not clear when vaccine manufacturers in India will be able to meet these targets.