Hoarders aggravate India’s plight
INDIA saw another record-breaking number of new Covid cases and daily deaths yesterday as hoarding of oxygen cylinders hurt efforts to save lives.
Health officials warned people were now stockpiling oxygen and other vital medicines in homes, creating panic and causing shortages in hospitals treating critically ill patients.
It comes as the Asian nation recorded a further 352,991 new coronavirus cases, breaking its own global record for the fifth straight day, and 2,812 new deaths – its highest daily figure.
But with hospitals in most cities now having run out of beds, people were having to find ways to get treatment for sick patients at home. Richer families are hiring nurses and consulting doctors to keep their loved ones breathing.
Desperate relatives are paying £500 for oxygen cylinders that would usually cost £50 on the black market.
Dr Randeep Guleria, the director of India’s Institute of Medical Sciences, warned: “Hoarding of injections like remdesivir and oxygen in homes is creating a panic and this hoarding is causing a shortage of these medicines.”
The first consignment of aid left the
UK on Sunday and is due to arrive in India today. More is due this week.
The British supplies include 495 oxygen concentrators – which can extract oxygen from the air when hospital oxygen systems have run out – as well as 120 non-invasive ventilators and 20 manual ventilators.
University College London has also sent 100 non-invasive breathing aids to India as part of the UK Government’s shipment of emergency medical supplies.
The US will immediately lift export controls to provide raw materials for jabs to Indian vaccine manufacturers.