How India’s Tamil Nadu and Kerala states are fighting COVID surge

Southern states have comparatively better health infrastructure are also under lockdown amid second wave of pandemic.

Chennai, India – Rajendran Dilip waits anxiously outside Chennai’s dedicated 500-bed government hospital treating critically ill COVID-19 patients in the city’s commercial hub where his 53-year-old father Rajendran has been brought in an ambulance a couple of hours ago. Rajendran’s oxygen levels began dropping precipitously two days after he tested positive for COVID. This was after he took his first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine late last month. “We tried several hospitals, both private and government, but there were no beds available. Finally, when his oxygen level began fluctuating, we had no choice but to dial 108,” Dilip, 24, told Al Jazeera, referring to the emergency response number for medical, fire and police services in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.