A paramedic helps a Covid-19 patient in Ahmedabad, India, April 29 2021. Picture: REUTERS/AMIT DAVE
Indian hospitals, morgues and crematoriums have been overwhelmed as the country has reported more than 300,000 daily cases for more than 10 days straight. Many families have been left on their own to scramble for medicines and oxygen. Dozens of people have died in the past week due to shortage of oxygen in hospitals in Delhi alone.
The Indian Express newspaper reported on Sunday that the country’s Covid-19 task force has advised the federal government to impose a national lockdown.The federal government fears another lockdown will have a devastating impact on the economy. The lockdown imposed in 2020 after the first Covid-19 outbreak led to job losses as economic output fell a record 24% in April-June 2020 compared with the same period a year earlier.
On Sunday Britain’s foreign secretary Dominic Raab said it would send more ventilators for India “very shortly”.