As a second coronavirus wave ravages India, overwhelming its already inadequate medical and public health facilities, the mood among the majority of the country’s 1.3 billion people is one of alarm, panic, hopelessness and anger. Patients receive treatment inside a Covid-19 care centre and isolation ward facility near a hospital in New Delhi. Infected patients languish two or three to a bed, while those less fortunate lie comatose in the corridors with overextended medical staff stepping over them. One doctor at a leading New Delhi hospital said medical staff did not have time to mourn any patient’s loss. “In the face of this massive calamity, India’s political leadership has been leading from behind,” said Manoj Joshi of the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.

Source: The Irish Times April 27, 2021 16:30 UTC