“Local newspapers speak of 9 or 10 deaths per day from Covid-19 in Benares, where I live.
This week, I went to the banks of the Ganges
,
where the Indians do open-air cremations.
I counted at least 20 burning bodies, three times the usual number.
Celine is French, expatriated in India for twelve years.
Manager of a dispensary in the north of the country, she evokes a "nameless chaos".
Like her, 9,300 French nationals witness, every day, the epidemic explosion of their adopted country and its 1.4 billion souls, out of all proportion to the rest of the world.
VIDEO.
India: Desperate families seek antiviral drug in New Delhi
On Monday, the authorities counted 352,991 new cases, an undoubtedly underestimated world record, for lack of massive screening.
On the same day, 2,812 people died from the virus, a national record.
The fault "with a generalized relaxation, gigantic pilgrimages maintained by the authorities in January", judge Frédéric Landy, associate professor, specialist in India.
The fault also with the "Indian variant", combination of several strains of the Covid, which is spreading at high speed in the country, despite a prolonged confinement in the capital, New Delhi.
Result: saturated hospitals, lack of medical staff and a vaccination that is struggling to start.
“I saw people die in front of the hospital, which had no more room,” says Vinay, a French-speaking guide from Jaipur.
He has just posted a message on Facebook to "thank" the French for their "help": Saturday, a first convoy of medical equipment - oxygen, artificial respirators ... - will leave Paris, by plane, to India.
Read alsoSurge in Covid-19 cases in India: a surge of global solidarity to come to the aid of the country
On the spot, the anguish is pregnant.
“At the start of the epidemic, all my friends, Indians and expatriates alike, started posting photos of recipes.
There was a good-natured side.
There, we feel the fear: everyone has an intimate touch ”, compares Franck Barthélémy, installed in Bangalore.
"In the slums, it's terrible"
Most French nationals are affiliated with the Caisse des Français de l'altern (CFE), which in theory allows access to private hospitals, which are better equipped.
But "even in Bangalore, a city known for its medical tourism, private clinics are full," sighs the French.
"However, they cost at least 50,000 rupees per day (Editor's note: 554 euros), few Indians can afford them, notes Céline for her part.
We are not the most to be pitied: in the slums, it is terrible.
"
Are we witnessing a flight from our fellow citizens?
“Some are anticipating their departure,” says Franck Barthélémy.
Schools are closed, we see families leaving for France when they generally wait for summer.
"However, the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE) indicates that the 723 students of the four French establishments, the 200 teaching staff (including a hundred French) are" at home and subject to teaching. remotely ”.
"This will be the case until the end of May, by decision of the local authorities", specifies Jean-Paul Négrel, deputy director of the agency.
Read also Covid-19 outbreak in India: expatriates, worried, describe "a country at war"
For its part, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicates that it has not received "any large repatriation request".
There are “cases of medical repatriation” but “not necessarily more than at the start of the crisis”.
However, "there is a concern about maintaining trade links with France, which is the case" adds the Quai d'Orsay.
Where we are assured “(…) to follow the situation of our compatriots established in India, to listen to their questions, to provide them with advice, to put them in contact with the medical adviser of the consulate”.
The ministry also recalls that from April 2020, a “health plan” was put in place in 92 countries, facilitating, on site, access to telemedicine and to doctors.
