Corona in India: "What we do actually has to be decided by God"

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Chaos in the intensive care unit in a New Delhi hospital.

At the beginning of May, more than 400,000 people in India are infected with the coronavirus every day.

There is a state of emergency.

The clinics are completely overcrowded.

There is a lack of oxygen.

Doctors have to decide who to treat and who not.

Rohan Aggarwal, Assistant Doctor

“What we do really has to be decided by God, who will be saved and who will not be saved.

And that's not what we're made for.

We are only human.

And now we are told that we have to do this.

That's why the mood here is really depressing and I just need a break, an hour or so outside the hospital so that I can collect myself and get out of this atmosphere, because I have to stay here for another 24, 28 hours. "

According to the Indian Ministry of Health, the corona numbers are now falling sharply and have fallen by more than half within three weeks.

Mabel Morales of the organization Doctors Without Borders in Mumbai believes this is a result of the strict lockdown in the country.

Mabel Morales, MSF coordinator

“The measures that the government has ordered are very helpful.

There was an almost complete lockdown, lots of restrictions on freedom of movement, and I think that helps a lot. "

The death toll has also fallen in India.

But even if the peak of the corona wave is apparently over - there is still no relaxation here.

Hospitals continue to be overcrowded and many experts doubt the credibility of the official infection numbers.

One reason: While the first wave in India last year mainly hit the big cities, this time the virus is spreading more in rural regions and there is often hardly any testing there.

Just like in this village in Bihar state.

Gajender Yadav, villager

»At least seven people died in the village last month.

Every family has already lost two members.

There are no tests, no treatment.

And when they died, the rumor spread that they died from the coronavirus. "

The lack of tests in many villages makes the data situation confusing.

This is also noticed by Morales from Doctors Without Borders, who travels with her team to various regions in the country and offers medical support.

Mabel Morales, MSF coordinator

“Of course, no tests mean no data.

Only when the patient's condition is very critical do they come to a hospital or a Covid center at the last minute.

That's why we found a lot of patients in critical condition in these places. "

The fact that there is much less testing in the country is partly due to a lack of capacity.

But many people do not even want to be tested.

They distrust the government's measures and fear stigmatization.

Anjani Kuma, villager

»Some people in the village were infected with the virus, but only a few people know that because nobody would tell.

People hide the fact that they are sick. "

In addition, health care in rural areas is much worse than in cities.

If Covid-19 spreads completely in the villages, then no hospital can accept the patients.

Because the rural population density is large and the health system is fragile.

We need to increase testing in the villages and if patients are identified and properly treated from the start then the pandemic could be prevented from spreading in rural India.

The doctors' hope also lies in the vaccination campaign, which has been running since the beginning of the year - albeit very slowly. Just under four percent of the population is fully vaccinated. With a population density of 1.36 billion in the country, the campaign is an extreme challenge. Although India is the world's largest producer of vaccines, there is a lack of doses in the country. Too late, too little vaccine was ordered. Critics blame the government's corona management for this. Prime Minister Modi had long downplayed the danger of the virus, allowed mass events like the Holi festival in March and failed to take care of the vaccination campaign in time. So the situation remains tense. Like in this hospital in Calcutta, in the state of West Bengal.In the region, the official numbers are even increasing. Doctors are preparing for another bad week.

Sudip Das, doctor at the state hospital in Calcutta

»It's the critical cases that worry me.

If we have problems with them, it will be difficult to save the patients. "

Many patients and their families wait in vain for treatment in the intensive care unit because the capacities have long been exhausted.

Bishsajt Sarkar, member of a corona patient

"We are trying everything and also ask the private clinic to keep a bed free for us, which is impossible there too, because new patients are constantly being admitted."

More than 28 million people have officially been infected with Corona in India.

The country is in second place behind the USA and the high number of unreported cases makes it difficult to gauge the real extent of the crisis.

But few believe that it is over.

Mabel Morales, Doctors Without Borders

»We just have to be prepared for each wave and we don't really know when.

That is why we are currently concentrating more on building capacities, especially in rural areas, in order to be prepared for every further wave.

Because the situation we had at the height of the second wave was really, really very critical. "

Nevertheless, the Indian government now wants to venture cautious opening steps with the falling numbers. Markets and shopping centers have been allowed to open since this week. The metro runs restricted again. Offices can work with half of their workforce. These are the first steps back to normal. After many weeks in a state of emergency.