Connected Through Distance
“The health system in India is clearly being overwhelmed by the pandemic and there are wide spread shortages of critical medical supplies and equipment, including pharmaceuticals, personal protective equipment, ventilators and oxygen” — Dr Khorshid
India is currently battling a fight against the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic as the country’s healthcare continues to be under pressure. Globally, we can only do so much as the nation of India faces a new wave of the COVID 19 pandemic. The healthcare system has crumbled under the overwhelming number of patients facing medical shortages.
A new world record number for daily death due to the pandemic was met in India with its biggest single-day rise in coronavirus cases of over 412,000. The Health Ministry reported 412,262 new cases, taking the country’s total number of infections to over 21 million. With a record 3,980 new fatalities, the death toll reached 230,168.
The situation in India is getting worse every day with rising cases, overflowing hospitals , oxygen shortages and mass cremations taking place in car parks to deal with overwhelming piles of bodies.
Despite being one of largest manufacturers of vaccines worldwide — the primary manufacturer for COVID-19 vaccines. The rollout for vaccinations has been quite slow. The process to get a vaccination is through booking an appointment though an online application. However, this is quite hard when majority of population do not have access to electronic devices or even internet.
India’s health care system is also massive underfunded, with just over 1% of the country’s GDP is spent on healthcare, making it one of the lowest in the world. Disease surveillance and contact tracing which are common procedures in most countries, don’t exist in India. These factors make India quite vulnerable with this pandemic.
Australia is home to more than 700 000 people born in India and many more with strong connection to a country which is now in a state of chaos and panic. Like many, individuals have left behind parents, community, colleagues and feel powerless to help from the comforts of Australia.
More than 200 000 people have died in India and more than 360 000 new cases reported creating a global record. As a country, Australia have been quite lucky during the pandemic with surplus of medical supplies and equipment. However, to support countries less fortunate like India, Prime Minister Morrison announced that Australia would send 500 ventilators, 1 million surgical masks and other personal protective equipment to India.
For the crisis of the CPVID 19 pandemic, people in India and around the world are using the internet to use much needed help to families. Many individuals took to Twitter to share the stories of people in need of oxygen and ventilators, or a hospital bed in the hopes of finding help online.
Many others have been sharing reputable organisations engaged in this work to encourage those who can support those in need. Many organisations are dedicated to the provisions of life saving medical equipment, food for families dealing with hunger, reusable sanitary items for women & girls who have gone without because of pandemic pressures
People all around the word are using Twitter to tweet and amplifying pleas for oxygen supplies on social platforms out of desperation, as new coronavirus cases and deaths have hit record highs. Oxygen supplies are at critical low levels in India and hospitals are overwhelmed with patients suffering from COVID 19.
The community all around the world are using hastags such as #CovidSOS and #CovidEmergency2021 to seek medical support as a nation. Facebook and WhatsApp are also being used for posts for people in need of ICU beds, oxygen and other supplies.
As a community with roots imbedded in India, we have tried to support in any way possible. I have been a part of various charity events to raise funds for those in need in India for the fight against the COVID 19 pandemic. Money raised in such events were used to purchase and distribute oxygen concentrator machines to covid infected patients via charities such as Penny Appeals.
Donate now to make a change. #connectedthroughdistance.
Some charities to donate to include :
- Caritas Australia
- Penny Appeal
- Unicef Australia
- Human Appeal
- World Vision
