A local cemetery working running on the ground collecting logs for funeral pyres, to perform the last rites for patients who died of Covid, on 29 April at the Ghazipur cremation ground in New Delhi. (Ghazipur Cremation Ground/File-Amit Sharma)
DEHRADUN, India/ABUJA, May 12 2021 (IPS) - The media is awash with the devastating news of deaths and sufferings due to COVID-19 coming out of India. What most media outlets overlook is the way Indian communities are rallying to save lives, reduce sufferings and stop the current wave of the pandemic.
As of May 11, 2021, India’s COVID-19 case total is about 23 million – with above 19 million recoveries, while total deaths are 250,025, according to the health ministry. All levels of hospitals and health facilities are full, after optimising their beds and staff, oxygen is almost not available, medicines are being bought in the black market and crematoriums have been inundated, forcing them to use nearby open spaces and parking lots to deal with the surge. Despite being the world’s largest producer of vaccines, India does not have enough for its own people.