Indian Capital’s Grim Battle with 2nd Virus Wave Wreaks Havoc Across City
Voice of America
MUMBAI - Despair and anguish have gripped India as the desperate search for oxygen, hospital beds and medicine continues unabated, with the country’s health-care system buckling under the deadly second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the capital New Delhi, where a more transmissible coronavirus variant has infected entire families, sick family members are desperately seeking medical help for those more severely ill at home or are frantically racing to locate scarce drugs and oxygen cylinders for which a thriving black market has emerged. It’s a city that now depends on family, friends and social media to navigate through its worst-ever health crisis. People are scared to even open windows and doors for fear of catching the virus, and lonely funerals are being held at crematoriums that are working into the night as the death toll climbs relentlessly. 49-year-old Leena Roy, her husband, son and elderly parents all tested positive for COVID-19 last week. As her mother’s condition worsened, they joined the desperate search for a hospital bed. Her doctor finally located one in a small nursing home in a Delhi suburb whose owner he knew.FILE - Students protest for more public university funding and against austerity measures proposed by President Javier Milei, featured on the sign, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, April 23, 2024. FILE - Sally Otto, owner of a downtown craft collective, speaks May 21, 2024, in Greeley, Colo. FILE - Kristina McGuffey with her 12-year-old daughter, Molly, and 9-year-old son, Wyatt, speaks while making a purchase at a downtown craft collective May 21, 2024, in Greeley, Colo.
U.S. WWII veteran Harold Terens, 100, left, and Jeanne Swerlin, 96, arrive to celebrate their wedding at the town hall of Carentan-les-Marais in Normandy, France, June 8, 2024. U.S. WWII veteran Harold Terens, 100, left, and Jeanne Swerlin, 96, celebrate their wedding in Normandy, France, June 8, 2024. U.S. WWII veteran Harold Terens, 100, left, and Jeanne Swerlin, 96, kiss in Normandy, France, June 8, 2024.