By Kriti Chand Rajbar, Trinity College Student
India recorded more than 400,000 daily new cases on May 6. This is the largest single day spike in the world. A day later, India broke the record of highest daily death toll with 4,187 COVID-19 related deaths.
This massive second wave of COVID-19 began around February but worsened in April when the government started to relax COVID-19 rules and regulations. India’s healthcare system was tragically unprepared for the surge of cases, and as such there was (and still is) a shortage of ward beds, ICU beds, ventilators and perhaps most distressingly oxygen support. Patients are left outside waiting for medical care, and many state governments are reporting a shortage of space in morgues and crematoriums.
As always, it is the poorest in the community bearing the brunt of this crisis. About 78 million people in India live in slums and tenements. Conditions in these settlements are extremely dire, as people live in cramped areas without adequate sanitation, use shared toilets and water points. Social distancing is a privilege none of these people can afford.
How can you help?
Right now, India is in desperate need of help from the global community, and there are various organisations through which you can donate everything from oxygen cylinders to PPE kits. GiveIndia(Giving Impetus to Voluntary Effort) is a non profit organisation in India. Its online platform gives your donations to credible NGOs. GiveIndia ensures that at least 90% of every donation reaches the organisation that is donated to (as against the average of 60% for the NGO sector).
GiveIndia lists various COVID-19 missions (you can view them here) that you can donate to help India survive this pandemic.
Here are direct links to some of the missions:
Help patients breathe as they battle COVID
Help set up COVID care centres for patients fighting Coronavirus
No donation is too small.
Want to know more?
How India’s COVID-19 crisis became the worst in the world
India hits another grim record as WHO says it accounted for half of last week’s reported cases