FILE PHOTO: Patients suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) get treatment at the casualty ward in Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital, amidst the spread of the disease in New Delhi, India April 15, 2021. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui
NEW DELHI 鈥� Gasping for air, two men wearing oxygen masks share a bed in a government hospital in India鈥檚 capital New Delhi, victims of the country鈥檚 growing COVID-19 crisis.
From reporting under 10,000 new daily cases earlier this year, daily infections crossed 200,000 on Thursday, according to official data, the highest anywhere in the world.
At Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP), one of India鈥檚 largest COVID-only facilities with more than 1,500 beds, a stream of ambulances ferried patients to the overflowing casualty ward on Thursday.
Some also arrived in buses and three-wheeled autorickshaws.
The youngest patient was a new-born baby.
鈥淲e are definitely overburdened. We are already working at full capacity,鈥� said the hospital鈥檚 medical director, Suresh Kumar.
From an initial 54 beds, the hospital now has over 300 for COVID-19 patients in critical condition. Even that is not enough.
Unrelated patients share beds, while bodies of the recently deceased lie outside the ward before being taken to the mortuary.
鈥淭oday we have 158 admissions in Lok Nayak alone,鈥� Kumar said. Almost all were severe cases.
After imposing one of the world鈥檚 strictest lockdowns for nearly three months last year, India鈥檚 government relaxed almost all curbs by the beginning of 2021, although many regions have now introduced localised restrictions.
LNJP鈥檚 Kumar said fast-spreading new variants that evade testing were adding to the burden, as was human behaviour as the country reopened.
鈥淧eople are not following the COVID guidelines,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey are just careless.鈥�
Outside the hospital鈥檚 mortuary, weeping relatives gathered in the hot sun to wait for the bodies of loved ones to be released.
Prashant Mehra, 40, said he had to pay a broker for preferential treatment before he could get his 90-year-old grandfather admitted to the hospital. The hospital did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his remarks.
Mehra said the effort made little difference in the end.
鈥淗e died after six or seven hours,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e already asked for our money back.鈥�