The battle continues
INDIA continues to battle its second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic amid a new strain of the virus.
In the past week, the country recorded more than 370 000 positive cases and more than 3 400 deaths.
The total number of cases is nearly 20 million and there have been 219 000 deaths.
According to the AFP, India’s healthcare system is under severe strain, with the shortage of beds, drugs and oxygen leaving some to die awaiting treatment in long queues outside hospitals in New Delhi and other cities.
AFP reported that a total of 36 people died in two hospitals overnight on the weekend after they ran out of oxygen.
The hospitals are in Karnataka and New Delhi.
Walter Lindner, a German ambassador, said: “Out there the hospitals are full. People are sometimes dying in front of the hospitals. They have no more oxygen.”
Meanwhile, the Rainbow Children Hospital, which cares for newborns and children, took it to social media, stating that 25 to 30 children are at risk without enough oxygen.
During an interview with the Indian Express Daily, Dr Dinesh, the head of the Madhukar hospital, said: “Oxygen is a basic requirement of a hospital and a consistent supply has not been assured. We are constantly firefighting.”
Prisoners over 65 years of age, pregnant prisoners and prisoners who are suffering from cancer or any other critical illness may be released on parole for 60 days in Uttar Pradesh.
According to a report by IANS, the government has decided to prevent the rise of Covid-19’s second wave by releasing some of the prisoners to avoid overcrowding in jails.
This comes after the chairperson of the Bar Council, an apex body of the lawyers of Uttar Pradesh, Rohitashwa Kumar Agarwal, wrote a letter to Sanjay Yadav, the acting Chief Justice of
Allahabad High Court, seeking interim bail and parole for prisoners under trial.
Agarwal stated that the recent reports of two weeks indicated that the Covid19 positive cases were doubling in all jails across the country.
His letter read: “Scores of inmates have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, majorly due to the flouting of social distancing norms on account of congestion in jails.”
Convicted prisoners and those undergoing trials such as murder and rape will also be considered for the 60-day parole but on the basis that they should surrender after the expiry of the parole period.
The High Powered Committee (HPC), which approved the decision, stated that those under trial facing criminal cases of seven years sentence may be released on interim bail on the examination of cases on basis.
Experts blame complacency of Covid-19 fatal infections, religious festivals attended by millions of devotees and political rallies for the virus crisis.
According to an AFP report, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a setback when it lost a fiercely contested state poll at the weekend.
India held its biggest democratic exercise in two years, with 175 million people eligible to vote in five regional elections last month.
Marathon polls involved huge rallies where many of those who attended were maskless, and a record-breaking coronavirus spike coincided with the final phases of voting.
But as results started trickling in, they showed the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party on course for a third term.
AFP reported that thousands of TMC supporters took to the streets, despite a virus-related ban on celebrations.
TMC leader Mamata Banerjee said: “The immediate challenge is to combat the Covid-19 and we are confident that we will win. This victory has saved humanity, the people of India. It’s the victory of India.”