“‘This Is a Catastrophe.’ In India, Illness Is Everywhere.”New York Time said. It was reported that India has reached the devastating figure of 200,000 coronavirus deaths, with the pressure on many hospitals showing no sign of abating amid a surging second wave. The real number of fatalities is thought to be far greater, with many not being officially recorded. According to the BBC，India have been at least 300,000 new infections every day in the past week, with more than 360,000 new cases in the past 24 hours on Wednesday. Overall, more than 17.9 million cases have been registered. “The numbers we are seeing are staggeringly high - but the real number of fatalities are thought to be much higher.”BBC News said. Mortality data in India is poor and deaths at home often go unregistered, especially in rural areas. There are reports of journalists counting bodies at morgues themselves, to try to get a more accurate number. the families of the sick are desperately hunting on social media for help.As the health system buckles, it is community, self-help and luck standing between life and death.
2
India desperate for oxygen
During the second wave of the epidemic, it was not only the number of infections that worried people, but also the emergency oxygen reserves. Patients at crowded hospitals are waiting for fresh supplies, their anxious relatives forming long lines in areas where oxygen is provided and at makeshift vehicles supplying it. Experts say the vast nation of 1.3 billion people is producing enough oxygen -- just over 7,000 tonnes a day. Most is for industrial use, but can be diverted for medical purposes. But most oxygen producers are in India's east, while the soaring demand has been in cities including financial hub Mumbai in the west and the capital Delhi in the north. Meanwhile, many hospitals do not have on-site oxygen plants, often because of poor infrastructure, a lack of expertise and high costs. Now，It's urgent to solve the problem of lack of oxygen.More than 20 patients died last week after oxygen supplies ran out at another New Delhi hospital. The government is importing mobile oxygen generation plants and tankers, building more than 500 new plants and buying portable oxygen concentrators. But oxygen shortages are still affecting badly hit regions despite the measures to boost supply, transport and storage. Reports have emerged of hospitals asking patients to arrange for their own cylinders and of people dying even after being admitted due to low oxygen supplies.
3
Countries and Organizations
are helping India
For humanitarian ，many countries and organizations have provided assistance to India. China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, said this week that Beijing was “ready to provide support and assistance to the Indian people at any time according to the needs of India”. Last week the Chinese embassy in Sri Lanka tweeted: “800 oxygen concentrators have been airlifted today from HongKong to Delhi. Besides China, the United Nations is also helping India. The UN team in India, led by Resident Coordinator Renata Lok-Dessallien, is supporting the authorities' response to the pandemic by providing equipment and supplies, including to local governments, said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The WHO is also helping to set up mobile hospital units and is providing for laboratories.Some WHO field officers also have been sent to help health authorities. “Together we must do all we can to halt the current COVID-19 surge.”News website of the United Nations said.
来源：China Daily、BBC News、France 24、The New York Times、The Guardian、UN News，图片来源于网络，如侵删。