The plague is raging: India has asked for help from Israel Israel today

New Delhi's appeal is being considered in Jerusalem by the relevant authorities • Hospitals in the subcontinent refuse to accept new patients, and suffer from a lack of oxygen for the critically ill

• Medical staff member taking a course near a cremation point in India // Photo: AP

 India has forwarded a request to Israel for oxygen and medicine, following the corona rampage.

At this stage the application is being examined by the professionals and no decision has been made yet.

A source at the Indian embassy told Israel today that his country "wants to purchase medical equipment and to that end we are in contact with all our friends, including Israel."

 He noted that "the situation is challenging but it is something we will overcome."  

According to the Indian representative, every country or continent has struggled with such intensity of second or third wave.

There are, however, some encouraging signs in a number of key points like Maharashtra, where the number seems to be declining.

He added that "we are still in second place in the world in the number of daily vaccines, after the United States. Our average of 7 days is 2.6 million while the United States is about 2.9 million.

Next Saturday, we are opening the vaccine to anyone aged 18 and over.

We have so far vaccinated over 140 million people, which is about 14% of all vaccines done so far in the world.

About 10% of our population has been vaccinated. '

Patients are lying on stretchers

Meanwhile, the corona crisis in India continues to worsen.

Against the backdrop of the second and deadliest corona wave to hit the country in recent days.

Over 346,000 new infections were reported in the last day, and over 2,600 deaths in that day.

These are the highest numbers any country has known during the plague.

Five provincial states in India are responsible for 54 percent of the cases in all of India.

The catastrophic second wave is making a name for itself in the country and is leading to the collapse of cremations.

Experts estimate that the true death toll is ten to 20 times the official 190,000.

The outbreak is so severe that there are actually not enough hospital beds and oxygen, and in many cases hospitals are forced to refuse to accept patients.

India's healthcare system is under pressure and the result is that dozens of people are lying on stretchers near hospitals in places like Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and more.

There are long queues outside oxygen plants in many cities, people flock to these facilities in the hope that they can refill the oxygen balloons and give their sick loved ones a chance to breathe again.

The country is wondering why the steep rise in infection and the answer to this is still unclear.

Narendra Modi's government is under scrutiny because it did not restrict the participation of the masses in religious and political events and did not strengthen the health system, which was in dire straits even before the onset of the disease wave.

Moody himself has held recent election rallies across India, even in late March, when it was clear there was a wave of contagion.

The fact that they eased closures and social distance during this period also helped strengthen the wave.

It was only on April 17 that a change in policy could be felt, when Modi urged people to keep social distance at the events of the Hindu holiday Kumba Mela, and the organizers began to act on the matter.

The political rallies in the West Bengal state have shown just how problematic the situation is: the daily number of cases there broke a record immediately after politicians appeared.

Following this, it was decided to stop the rallies.

There is also already concern about the rise of new variants of the virus in India, and the British variant seems to be the dominant one in the country at the moment.

Considering the side and the British variant that is easily contagious, and there is also the local variant - i.e. the "Indian variant" which actually consists of two mutations - one can understand how India got into the catastrophic situation, and the question is, what will happen now?

How to get out of it.