India on Friday, 16th April 2021, reported a rise of more than 2.17 lakh COVID-19 cases within 24 hours and India’s total tally rose to 1.43 crore.
Within six days, the country managed to add more than one million cases to the tally and it is said to be the fastest million added to the tally since the pandemic outbreak.
The Alarming Numbers
On April 10, India’s total COVID-19 cases stood at 13,205,926 cases which soared to 14,291,927 cases on April 16, an addition of 1,086,001 cases.
On Wednesday the cumulative cases rose to 1.84 lakh COVID-19 positive cases. So let’s do the country a favour and stay at home, maybe?
If the records don’t scare you then I would like to tell you l about the wailing daughter who saw her father suffer to death due to the sheer negligence of the government and hospital authorities. The utter helplessness is sure to give you chills down your spine if not the data provided here.
The Daughter Wails For A Government That Has Lost Its Way
A thirty-year-old woman travelled from Hazaribagh to Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand to admit her COVID-infected father at Sadar Hospital on Tuesday, 13th April 2021.
After a long wait for medical attention, her father died in the hospital parking lot. This incident took place while the Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta was on rounds of the COVID-19 ward at the city, collecting a vote bank at the same hospital.
Pawan Gupta, a 60-year-old man from Hazaribagh, died despite all efforts made by his family to get him medical aid. The family members reported that after reaching the hospital, they ran from pillar to post like lunatics for help but all their efforts were in vain.
No doctors attended to them and neither was any medical aid given to the patient. After battling for his life near the entry gate of Sadar hospital, the patient succumbed to death in the parking lot.
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Lack Of Infrastructure Or Lack of Administration?
The overwhelmed daughter broke down and lashed out in front of Banna Gupta, the Health Minister of Jharkhand.
“Mantri Ji, doctor doctor chillate reh gaye, koi doctor nahi aaya aadhe ghanta tak papa tadap tadap ke mar gaye yahan…khali vote lene ke liye aate hain (Mr. Minister, we kept screaming for a doctor for half-an-hour but no one came. My father gasped his last here. You only come to ask for votes),” wailed the daughter in front of the Health Minister.
A video of the woman’s plight has gone viral on social media platforms, we can see the video and empathise with her. But can we feel her loss or pain?
More importantly, do we want to see a beloved family member suffering from a lack of medical attention?
No. And no one should have to go through this for the negligence of the government and its workers (Read: power-hungry ministers who are appointed to serve the society instead of filling their pockets.)
Banna Gupta took the minimal effort of assuring the victim’s family that strict action will be taken against those responsible. “A woman started crying after her father died. I am shaken by the incident. I have ordered an inquiry”, said the Health Minister.
What Is The Current State Of Affairs?
This incident tells us about the rapid surge in COVID-19 positive cases reported over the last three weeks, of crumbling health infrastructure, with more than 90 percent of ICU beds occupied in both public and private hospitals.
In Ranchi’s private and government hospitals, out of 943 beds available with oxygen support, 879 are occupied. In non-invasive and invasive ventilator-supported beds, 234 out of 335 remain occupied. The remaining 73 are empty at Sadar Hospital due to other reasons.
The state has requested the ICMR for a genome sequencing machine. In his letter to ICMR, dated April 11, State Health Secretary Kamal Kishore
Soan wrote: “…There is no facility to check COVID-19 strains in the state and the samples are sent to Bhubaneshwar for Genome Sequencing, which consumes time. Under current circumstances, it is essential to evaluate the strains within the state and for this, it is requested to provide at least one Genome Sequencing machine to the state…”
The India We Voted For, Are We Proud Of Our Decision-Making Skills Now?
Now I can understand the crumbling infrastructure of the state since the lack of government’s effort is prominent.
A country whose Prime Minister held ten campaigns for the West Bengal election and a brigade for promoting his party is bound to end up in a state where not one but a million other Pawan Gupta(s) die at a hospital parking lot.
Are we still going to let the government divide and rule? Are we still going to stay mum? Are we going to suffer in silence forever?
The centre is still unaffected by the numbers. COVID-19 spreads rapidly only in schools and colleges but not religious gatherings.
We do not know when the government will take a stance against the rise in COVID-19 cases, so let us not entrust our lives in the hands of the inadequate government. It’s time for the government to pull off their masks and us to put ours on. Let’s not the fascists decide our fate.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: India Today, The India Express, India.com
Connect with the blogger: @GhoshSohinee
This post is tagged under: Prime Minister, brigade for promoting his party, politics, party, rally, votes, ministers, bannu gupta, Modi, BJP, congress, TMC, West Bengal elections, state elections, covid-19, government, corona, dying, India, infrastructure, power-hungry ministers who are appointed to serve the society instead of filling their pockets, doctor, ambulance, hospital, died, pawan gupta, health minister, the wailing daughter, Jharkhand, Ranchi, death, corona cases, rising cases, positive cases, Hazaribagh, Sardar Hospital, prime minister, second wave
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