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A30 world news
Diaranson 5 Mei 2021

'Horrible' weeks ahead as India's virus catastrophe worsens

why authorities weren't bet- ing large gatherings. Prime Minister Narendra
ter prepared. But the cost is Modi's party has countered
clear: People are dying be- "That is what's going to break criticism by pointing out that
cause of shortages of bottled the back of this surge," he the underfunding of health
oxygen and hospital beds or said. care has been chronic.
because they couldn't get a
COVID-19 test. The death and infection fig- But this was all the more rea-
ures are considered unreli- son for authorities to use the
India's official average of able because testing is patchy several months when cases
newly confirmed cases per and reporting incomplete. in India declined to shore up
day has soared from over For example, government the system, said Dr. Vineeta
65,000 on April 1 to about guidelines ask Indian states Bal of the Indian Institute of
370,000, and deaths per day to include suspected CO- Science Education and Re-
have officially gone from VID-19 cases when record- search.
over 300 to more than 3,000. ing deaths from the outbreak,
but many do not do so. "Only a patchwork improve-
On Tuesday, the health min- ment would've been pos-
istry reported 357,229 new The U.S., with one-fourth sible," she said. But the coun-
cases in the past 24 hours the population of India, has try "didn't even do that."
and 3,449 deaths from CO- recorded more than 2 1/2
VID-19. times as many deaths, at Now authorities are scram-
NEW DELHI (AP) — health care system. around 580,000. bling to make up for lost
COVID-19 infections and Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of time. Beds are being added
deaths are mounting with The country has witnessed Brown University's School Municipal records for this in hospitals, more tests are
alarming speed in India scenes of people dying out- of Public Health in the U.S., past Sunday show 1,680 being done, oxygen is being
with no end in sight to side overwhelmed hospitals said he is concerned that In- dead in the Indian capital sent from one corner of the
the crisis and a top expert and funeral pyres lighting up dian policymakers he has were treated according to country to another, and man-
warning that the coming the night sky. been in contact with believe the procedures for handing ufacturing of the few drugs
weeks in the country of things will improve in the the bodies of those infected effective against COVID-19
nearly 1.4 billion people Infections have surged in In- next few days. with COVID-19. But in the is being scaled up.
will be "horrible." dia since February in a disas- same 24-hour period, only
trous turn blamed on more "I've been ... trying to say to 407 deaths were added to the India is vaccinating about
India's official count of contagious variants of the them, `If everything goes official toll from New Delhi. 2.1 million people daily, or
coronavirus cases surpassed virus as well as government very well, things will be hor- around 0.15% of its popula-
20 million Tuesday, nearly decisions to allow massive rible for the next several The New Delhi High Court tion.
doubling in the past three crowds to gather for Hindu weeks. And it may be much announced it will start pun-
months, while deaths offi- religious festivals and politi- longer,'" he said. ishing government officials if "This is not going to end very
cially have passed 220,000. cal rallies before state elec- supplies of oxygen allocated soon," said Dr. Ravi Gupta, a
Staggering as those numbers tions. Jha said the focus needs to to hospitals are not delivered. virus expert at the University
are, the true figures are be- be on "classic" public health "Enough is enough," it said. of Cambridge in England.
lieved to be far higher, the India's top health official, measures: targeted shut- "And really ... the soul of the
undercount an apparent re- Rajesh Bhushan, refused to downs, more testing, univer- The deaths reflect the fragil- country is at risk in a way."
flection of the troubles in the speculate last month as to sal mask-wearing and avoid- ity of India's health system.

Deaths at sea highlight failings in Europe migration policy

CAIRO (AP) — As the In all, approximately 130 centers of Libya, Italy, Malta hours after the first alert, at weather and the poor health
waves pounded the gray people are believed to have were first alerted by Alarm 2:44 p.m. They were told that of those already found, they
rubber boat carrying more died between April 21 and Phone that the boat needed the Libyan coast guard was returned to port before lo-
than 100 Africans hop- April 22 as they waited in help at 9:52 a.m. Central Eu- indeed searching for three cating the third boat, he said,
ing to reach Europe from vain for someone to save ropean Summer Time the boats in the area — but with adding that the support re-
Libya, those aboard dialed them, roughly 45 kilometers next day, according to emails only one vessel, the Ubari. ceived from the EU was in-
the number for migrants (30 miles) from the Libyan seen by The Associated Press. sufficient.
in distress frantically. In coast. A day after the wreck, Liby-
the series of calls to the Alarm Phone and SOS Med- an coast guard spokesperson The families will never be
Alarm Phone hotline, pas- It was the deadliest wreck so iterranée say they never re- Masoud Ibrahim Masoud able to bury their loved ones,
sengers explained that the far this year in the Mediter- ceived any response from told the AP that his agency and without bodies, it will be
dinghy had run out of fuel ranean Sea, where more than Maltese authorities. The had found 106 migrants and more difficult to investigate
while trying to cross the 20,000 migrants or asylum Armed Forces of Malta, two bodies from two other the deaths.
Mediterranean Sea and seekers have perished since responsible for maritime boats. Due to worsening
was quickly filling up with 2014, and has renewed accu- search-and-rescue opera-
water and panic. sations that European coun- tions, did not respond to sev-
tries are failing to help mi- eral requests for comment
On the other end of the line, grant boats in trouble. from the AP.
activists tried to keep the mi-
grants calm as they relayed No rescue came April 21. A It was only at 2:11 p.m., more
the boat's GPS coordinates day later, merchant vessels than four hours later, that
repeatedly to Italian, Maltese sailing in the area and a hu- Alarm Phone received a re-
and Libyan authorities and manitarian rescue ship, the sponse from Italian authori-
later to Frontex, the Europe- Ocean Viking, found the ties, asking the activists to
an Union's border and coast boat's wreckage and reported inform the "competent au-
guard agency, hoping author- seeing at least 10 bodies. One thorities" without specifying
ities would launch a rescue of the deceased was hunched who those were.
operation as required under over a ring buoy, face in the
international maritime law. water. Alarm Phone was only able
The rescue and coordination to reach a Libyan officer five