Indian doctor on Covid frontline shares harrowing photo showing him drenched in sweat
Covid-stricken Indian mother-of-two, 35, suffocates in hospital car park after pleading for medical attention: Fresh scenes of tragedy as daily deaths hit 3,500 and Delhi scientists warn of variants that could evade immunity
- Jagriti Gupta laid helpless, gasping for breath, in a car in Noida, as friends begged hospital staff for treatment
- Dr Sohil Makwana posted two harrowing images as a reminder of the continued strain health staff are under
- The doctor insisted he was ‘proud to serve’ in a tweet shared hundreds of thousands of times on the site
- India posted a record daily rise of 401,993 new coronavirus cases overnight, as it expanded vaccination drive
A mother suffering from coronavirus died in a hospital car park after desperately waiting for three hours for a bed amid India’s spiralling Covid crisis.
Jagriti Gupta laid helpless, gasping for breath, in a car outside the state-run GIMS hospital in Noida, as friends begged staff for treatment.
But authorities were unable to attend to the 35-year-old engineer as the virus continues to rip through the country and decimate its resources, with India becoming the first in the world to record 400,000 daily cases overnight.
One witness told NDTV: ‘I was standing right there as her (Jagriti Gupta’s) landlord ran around, asking for help. But no one listened to him. Around 3:30 pm, she collapsed. When the landlord ran to the reception to report that she is no longer breathing, the staff rushed outside and declared her dead.’
The country reported 3,500 deaths yesterday, bringing its total number of fatalities to almost 212,000 – only Mexico, Brazil and the United States have logged more.
It comes amid concerns from Delhi scientists that minor mutations in some Covid samples could ‘possibly evade immune response’ and require more study.
A forum of scientific advisers – known as the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genetics Consortium, or INSACOG – set up by the Indian government has told authorities that while they were flagging the mutations, there was no reason currently to believe they were expanding or could be dangerous.
It comes as:
- The country steps up its vaccination drive to include all adults – although there are warnings of jab shortages in many areas;
- More than 30 Australian cricket players, coaches and commentators have been left stranded in India after Sydney made it illegal for them to return with the threat of jail;
- At least 18 people, including two healthcare workers, were killed in a fire at a Covid-19 hospital in the western Indian state of Gujarat
A mother suffering from coronavirus died in a hospital car park after desperately waiting for three hours for a bed amid India’s spiralling Covid crisis
Dr Sohil Makwana posted two images – one of him covered in wet PPE and another of him standing in a soaked salmon-coloured shirt – as a reminder of the intense strain health staff are under
A health worker wearing a personal protective equipment (PPE) suit cleans the floor inside a banquet hall temporarily converted into a Covid-19 coronavirus ward in New Delhi
Patients breathe with the help of oxygen provided by a Gurdwara, a place of worship for Sikhs, under a tent installed along the roadside
Family members unload the body of a COVID-19 victim as they arrive at the cremation ground to perform the last rites in New Delhi
A woman with a breathing problem receives oxygen support for free at a Gurudwara (Sikh temple), amidst the spread of coronavirus disease
Health workers wearing a personal protective equipment (PPE) suits attend patients inside a banquet hall temporarily converted into a Covid-19 coronavirus ward in New Delhi
The country has a limited number of shots available domestically, worsening a grim second wave of infections that has left hospitals and morgues overflowing while families scramble for increasingly scarce medicines and oxygen
At least 18 people, including two healthcare workers, were killed in a fire at a COVID-19 hospital in the western Indian state of Gujarat
The blaze started around midnight in the intensive care ward of the Patel Welfare Hospital, a designated COVID-19 facility, in Bharuch city, 115 miles (185 km) north of state’s main commercial city, Ahmedabad
People stand around the Welfare Hospital after a deadly fire in Bharuch, western India
A sign reading ‘New Covid Centre, Welfare Hospital Bharuch & Research Centre’ is seen at a the hospital, which was treating Covid patients
Another 386,452 infections and 3,498 deaths were officially recorded on Friday – but medics have warned the true figures could be ten times greater, putting daily infections at 3 million and fatalities at 30,000.
The percentage change in daily Covid infections by Indian state on April 25 compared to at their peak, most of which were recorded last year. States which have surpassed their peak infection rates by more than 300 per cent include Ladakh in the far north, Gujurat and Rajsthan in the west, Uttar Pradesh in the northeast and Chhattisgarh in the central eastern part of the country. Andra Pradesh in the east and the cluster of states in the far northeast of the country remain below their peaks of the first wave, suggesting that they may yet have another wave to live through
INSACOG has found more mutations in coronavirus that it thinks need to be tracked closely.
‘We are seeing some mutation coming up in some samples that could possibly evade immune responses,’ said Shahid Jameel, chair of the scientific advisory group of INSACOG and a top Indian virologist. He did not say if the mutations have been seen in the Indian variant or any other strain.
‘Unless you culture those viruses and test them in the lab, you can’t say for sure. At this point, there is no reason to believe that they are expanding or if they can be dangerous, but we flagged it so that we keep our eye on the ball,’ he said.
In another visual indictment of the frontline struggle, a doctor shared a harrowing photo on social media showing him drenched in sweat.
Dr Sohil Makwana posted two images – one of him covered in wet PPE and another of him standing in a soaked salmon-coloured shirt – as a reminder of the intense strain health staff are under.
But the doctor insisted he was ‘proud to serve the nation’, as the country hit a grim milestone of cases in its desperate battle to keep the virus under control.
In a follow-up tweet, he wrote: ‘Talking on the behalf of all doctors and health workers.. we are really working hard away from our family.. sometimes a foot away from positive patient, sometimes an inch away from critically ill oldies… I request please go for vaccination.. it’s only solution! Stay safe.’
The image clearly resonated with many, as it was retweeted nearly 17,000 times and received more than 132,000 likes on the social media site.
Across the country, vulnerable people are being supplied with oxygen tanks to help them breathe, with cleaners working round-the-clock to prepare hospital wards and families cremating the bodies of loved ones.
In another visual indictment of the frontline struggle, a doctor shared a harrowing photo on social media showing him drenched in sweat.
Dr Sohil Makwana posted two images – one of him covered in wet PPE and another of him standing in a soaked salmon-coloured shirt – as a reminder of the intense strain health staff are under.
But the doctor insisted he was ‘proud to serve the nation’, as the country hit a grim milestone of cases in its desperate battle to keep the virus under control.
In a follow-up tweet, he wrote: ‘Talking on the behalf of all doctors and health workers.. we are really working hard away from our family.. sometimes a foot away from positive patient, sometimes an inch away from critically ill oldies… I request please go for vaccination.. it’s only solution! Stay safe.’
The image clearly resonated with many, as it was retweeted nearly 17,000 times and received more than 132,000 likes on the social media site.
Across the country, vulnerable people are being supplied with oxygen tanks to help them breathe, with cleaners working round-the-clock to prepare hospital wards and families cremating the bodies of loved ones.
India, the world’s biggest producer of jabs, had now stepped up its vaccination drive to include all adults, although several states have warned of acute shortages.
The country has a limited number of shots available domestically, worsening a grim second wave of infections that has left hospitals and morgues overflowing while families scramble for increasingly scarce medicines and oxygen.
‘We hope that we will get vaccines tomorrow or the day after … I ask you to please not queue up at vaccination centres on Saturday,’ the Chief Minister of the hard-hit state of Delhi, said on Friday.
A man walks past a funeral pyre of a person who died from coronavirus during a mass cremation at a crematorium in New Delhi
It comes amid concerns from Delhi scientists that minor mutations in some Covid samples could ‘possibly evade immune response’ and require more study. Pictured: Critical patients being given free oxygen in Uttar Pradesh
A forum of scientific advisers – known as the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genetics Consortium, or INSACOG – set up by the Indian government has told authorities that while they were flagging the mutations, there was no reason currently to believe they were expanding or could be dangerous. Pictured: A mass cremation in New Delhi
Patients receive free oxygen amid a rise in coronavirus cases across the country in Ghaziabad at Uttar Pradesh, India on May 1
A priest who works at a crematorium performs the last rites of a patient who died of Covid-19 amid burning funeral pyres in New Delhi
A woman wearing an oxygen mask in New Delhi. Free oxygen has been distributed by a Gurdwara (Sikh Holy place) as a service for Covid victims
People stand while waiting for refilled oxygen cylinders outside the store in New Delhi. India has recorded 401,993 new Covid-19 cases in the first time
A body is prepared for the last rites at funeral pyres for Covid-19 victims in New Delhi, India
A Covid-19 patient breaths with the help of an oxygen mask in his car outside the Guru Tech Bahuder Hospital in New Delhi
A man carries a refilled oxygen cylinder after they were distribution outside the store in New Delhi
Hundreds of people were seen queuing across Ahmedabad, the main commercial city in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat to get vaccinated.
Then last night, at least 18 people, including two healthcare workers, were killed in a fire at a COVID-19 hospital in the western Indian state of Gujarat.
The blaze started around midnight in the intensive care ward of the Patel Welfare Hospital, a designated COVID-19 facility, in Bharuch city, 115 miles (185 km) north of state’s main commercial city, Ahmedabad.
‘Sixteen patients and two staff members have died in the fire. Twelve of them died due to fire and smoke,’ said R.V. Chudasama, a superintendent of police in Bharuch.
‘Preliminary investigation shows the fire was caused because of a short circuit,’ he said.
Local news channels showed footage of a hospital ward completely destroyed in the fire.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet he was ‘pained by the loss of lives due to a fire at a hospital in Bharuch.’
India’s healthcare system is struggling to cope with the coronavirus crisis, which has killed 211,853 people and infected more than 19 million, according to health ministry data on Saturday.
A dozen people were reported killed after a fire in a hospital treating COVID-19 patients in a suburb of Mumbai on April 23.
Earlier 22 patients died at a public hospital in Maharashtra where Mumbai is located when oxygen supplies ran out due to a leaking tank.
Meanwhile, actor Arjun Gowda, star of movies such as Yuvarathnaa and Odeya, has used a break in his filming schedule to volunteer as an ambulance driver to help those in need.
He set up Project Smile Trust, which aims to reach out to those left completely stranded by the pandemic.
He told Times of India: ‘We want to ensure that we help out anyone in need irrespective of where they come from or what religion they practice. I’m also ready to travel across town for help.
‘I ended up taking someone who lives in Kengeri all the way to Whitefield to get them admitted in the hospital.
‘I plan on continuing with this help for the next couple of months as the current situation is quite back and I want to do my bit to people in whatever little way that I can.’
A man wearing PPE performs the last rites of a deceased relative in a disused granite quarry repurposed to cremate the Covid dead in India
A crane places new biers in an area used to cremate the dead in India. A variant is wreaking havoc across the country and overwhelming crematoriums
A mourner wearing Personal Protective Equipment waits to perform the last rites of a deceased relative in Bengaluru, India
A worker is seen turning over the funeral pyres at a crematorium in Delhi last night. The country of 1.4 billion is in the eye of the world’s Covid storm, with funeral pyres burning around the clock in Delhi and Mumbai and hospitals under armed guard to protect oxygen supplies.
It comes after it emerged yesterday that an Indian woman died after police were accused of taking her oxygen cylinder away to give to a VIP amid acute shortages and a health system overwhelmed by the world’s fastest growing Covid outbreak.
Video circulated on social media shows a man crying and begging officers on his hands and knees outside a private hospital in the city of Agra in Uttar Pradesh.
‘My mother will die if you take away her oxygen cylinder,’ Anmol Goyal, 22, told the police as the cylinder was carried out of the hospital on Tuesday night.
He and his 17-year-old brother had sourced the oxygen themselves after the hospital ran out, bringing it to the Covid ward and placing it by their mother’s bed.
But the cylinder was confiscated by the police for someone deemed to be more important, according to The Times of India correspondent who shared the video on social media.
Two hours later the Goyals’ mother died.
Video circulated on social media shows a man crying and begging officers on his hands and knees outside a private hospital in the city of Agra in Uttar Pradesh. ‘My mother will die if you take away her oxygen cylinder,’ Anmol Goyal, 22, pleaded with officers as the cylinder was carried out of the hospital on Tuesday night. Agra Police have vehemently denied the claims, saying: ‘It was an empty cylinder being taken away from the hospital for refilling.’
An ambulance overburdened with Covid victims in Maharashtra state is the latest grim evidence of the carnage unfolding throughout the country of 1.4 billion as a new mutation of the virus rips through the population. Police officers reportedly snatched the phones out of people’s hands as they tried to photograph the ambulance, its suspension sagging under the weight of the dead, outside a morgue in the city of Beed on Friday. Beed district chief Ravindra Jagtap vowed to punish those responsible, but added that there are just two ambulances to carry the dead to the city’s crematorium and more were needed.
Police pose with alleged Covid thieves outside a police station in west Delhi. Oxygen cylinders are being sold on the black market for more than £1,000, compared to the pre-pandemic price of around £60.
Relatives wearing personal protective equipment lower the body a Covid victim into a grave at a cemetery in Delhi on Friday
A family member performs the last rites at a crematorium in Jammu, northern India, on Friday. The army opened up hospitals today as PM Narendra Modi seeks to avoid a humanitarian crisis
Health workers install oxygen cylinders for COVID-19 patients at a makeshift hospital in the Indian capital on Friday. Delhi is recording roughly 25,000 new cases each day, but the true figure is believed to be as much as ten times greater
A municipal worker wearing a face mask uses a fumigation spray machine near a vaccination centre in Mumbai on Friday
Beds are prepared inside an emergency Covid centre which is preparing to open in Mumbai amid a colossal surge in cases which has overrun hospitals in the city of 12 million residents
Agra Police have vehemently denied the claims, saying: ‘It was an empty cylinder being taken away from the hospital for refilling.’
India is in the eye of the world’s Covid storm, with funeral pyres burning around the clock in Delhi and Mumbai and hospitals under armed guard to protect oxygen supplies.
Despite emergency medical gear arriving from Britain and the United States, including a USAF cargo jet with 400 oxygen cylinders on Friday, there remains an acute shortage of oxygen, medicines and beds across India.
People are dying in the streets and on stretchers outside the overcrowded hospitals, while lucrative Indian Premier League cricket matches are played just a few hundred yards away.
The league attracts many star players from Australia, whose officials have now put an unprecedented ban on citizens returning from India.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has defended the policy today, despite the move being blasted as ‘horrifying’ and ‘outrageous’.
The federal government made made it illegal to fly home from India under threat of five years in jail and fines of $66,600.
Health Minister Greg Hunt announced the draconian restriction today, which will begin at 12.01am on Monday.
Mr Frydenberg stood by the the government’s decision, saying Prime Minister Scott Morrison acted on medical advice.
‘We have taken drastic action to keep Australians safe, and what we face in India is a very serious situation where the medical advice provided to the federal government has been to put in place these strict measures,’ he said on Sunday.
Asked if it was irresponsible then to leave Australians there and effectively lock them out of their own country, Mr Frydenberg said the measure was drastic but temporary.
‘The best thing we can do is get supplies into India, which is what we’re doing – ventilators, masks, other PPE equipment,’ he told reporters.
‘We’re doing everything we can to support India at this very difficult time (but) we’ve also got to protect Australians.’
Labor backed the flight ban as the ‘right call’ but suggested criminalising citizens for trying to return is another story.
Senior Labor MP Jason Clare told the ABC the flight ban was ‘the right call’ based on health advice, however criminalising citizens for trying to return was another story
‘It’d be a big call to make it a crime for Australians trying to get home … what we should be doing is trying to make it easier.’
‘We charted a flight to Wuhan (in China) to get Aussies out and took them to Christmas Island.’
‘Why aren’t we doing that now?’
Australia’s Covid exiles: THIRTY Australian cricket stars are stranded in India and face JAIL if they try to go home after Sydney made it ILLEGAL for them to go home
More than 30 Australian cricket players, coaches and commentators have been left stranded in India after Sydney made it illegal for them to return with the threat of jail.
It comes after stars Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson were able to arrive in Melbourne on Thursday on a commercial flight from Doha via a travel loophole.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that route, and others through Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, had now been closed to put a total ban on travel from India, which recorded 400,000 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday.
The government yesterday went a step further as it unveiled an emergency bill that will see anyone arriving from India jailed for up to five years or fined up to £37,000.
Thirty-four Australians remain in India – 12 players, 11 coaches, four commentators, two umpires and five support staff, as well as a commentator from New Zealand who lives in Australia.
Among the star players are Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins, Steve Smith and David Warner, while big names like Ricky Ponting, Simon Katich and David Hussey are coaching.
Steve Smith is pictured with his wife Dani Willis. Smith was purchased for $390,000 at February’s auction to represent the Delhi Capitals. David Warner, pictured right with wife Candice, is earning £1.3 million
David Warner and Kane Williamson are seen in full PPE as they travel on a plane during the IPL
AJ Tye, Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson made the decision to escape the lucrative league early while Test players Steve Smith, Dave Warner and Pat Cummins (pictured with fiancée Becky Boston) stayed put
Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson touched down in Melbourne late Thursday afternoon via a commercial flight from Qatar, exposing a gap in Scott Morrison’s travel ban.
Funeral pyres have been burning around the clock in cities across India to cope with the dead (pictured: a crematorium in Bengaluru)
Health workers wearing a personal protective equipment (PPE) suits attend patients inside a banquet hall temporarily converted into a Covid-19 coronavirus ward in Delhi on Saturday
Cummins’ contract is worth £1.8 million, while Warner is earning £1.3 million.
In addition to the cricketers, more than 9,000 Australian citizens are believed to be in India.
Mr Morrison promised that the sporting stars would not receive any preferential treatment under the new rules to protect Australia’s successful zero Covid strategy.
‘They have travelled there privately,’ the PM said on Tuesday. ‘This wasn’t part of an Australian tour. They’re under their own resources and they’ll be using those resources too, I’m sure, to see them return to Australia in accordance with their own arrangements.’
The lucrative Twenty20 tournament is due to wrap up on May 30 and the players are housed in a ‘biosecure bubble,’ with no plans to cancel any fixtures.
Earlier this week, organisers came under renewed flak as a match between the Rajasthan Royals and the Mumbai Indians was played just a few hundred yards away from Delhi’s largest hospital where patients were dying for lack of oxygen.
England’s Jos Buttler played in the fixture along with Indian stars Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah.
Cricket Australia released their own statement earlier this week after Mr Morrison announced the new travel ban on India, saying it was in constant discussion with players and coaches in the country.
‘We will assist where possible,’ the statement read. ‘We will continue to liaise closely with the Australian government following today’s announcement that direct flights from India to Australia will be paused until 15 May, and monitor the situation between now and the tournament’s scheduled conclusion on 30 May.’
It comes as Western Australia’s premier, Mark McGowan, warned that quarantine facilities in the state had already been placed under huge strain by people arriving from India.
Mr Morrison promised that the sporting stars would not receive any preferential treatment under the new rules to protect Australia’s successful zero Covid strategy
Glenn Maxwell (pictured with his partner Vini) is on £1.4 million with Royal Challengers Bangalore
Batsman Chris Lynn, pictured with partner Karlie Andrews, who has led calls for Cricket Australia to organise a plane to get players out of India
Moises Henriques (pictured with partner Krista), who is playing for the Punjab Kings, also remains in India
Mr McGowan said on Tuesday that there was ‘huge pressure now on all our quarantine facilities as a result of people coming from India.’
‘What makes it more galling is people have gone over there, over the course of the past few months,’ he added.
One of the girlfriends of the cricket stars, Chris Lynn, who is earning $357,000 £200,000 playing for the Mumbai Indians, led calls this week for Cricket Australia to charter a plane to get the players out.
Karlie Andrews told Daily Mail Australia she did not feel comfortable commenting on the current situation ‘as everything is still up in the air’ – but admitted fellow WAGs are keen to get their loved ones home to Australia as soon as possible.
‘I know the IPL is doing everything they can to keep our players safe in their bubble,’ she said.
‘And I know all partners would obviously love to have their significant other home safe and well ASAP when IPL is complete.
‘Hopefully (Chris) is home at the end of May. It is not ideal and I miss him heaps but it won’t be forever and so just have to hang in there.’
Ms Andrews said she was hopeful Cricket Australia would charter a flight to pull the players out of India once the IPL finishes but noted she was ‘not sure’ that would be the case.
Australian cricketer Adam Zampa (pictured with fiancee Harriet) touched down in Melbourne along with Kane Richardson on Thursday
India is in the eye of the world’s Covid storm, with funeral pyres burning around the clock in Delhi and Mumbai and hospitals under armed guard to protect oxygen supplies.
Despite emergency medical gear arriving from Britain and the United States, including a USAF cargo jet with 400 oxygen cylinders on Friday, there remains an acute shortage of oxygen, medicines and beds across India.
People are dying in the streets and on stretchers outside the overcrowded hospitals, while IPL matches are played just a few blocks away.
The tournament has continued, with players offering donations to help Covid victims and others making the case that it provides much needed relief for the fearful population.
