Dressed in white, Mr. Kumar sat in the courtyard of the crematorium with other monks. Of the 26 pyre, only one is in operation. Another body is on its way there. “It’s comfortable now. Every 3-4 days, a body with Covid-19 will come here. We have time to breathe, eat and sleep,” he said The Hindu . To this day, he still cannot imagine what he had to go through two months ago. Unforgettable days Walking around the crematorium, Mr. Kumar pointed to an empty lot. Here, the staff of the crematorium had to erect 9 more cremation pylons. On another site, 5 pyre were built. Now, this area is just a black coal-stained void, with a few bricks left. Mr. Kumar pointed to the land that used to be the cremation pyre of Covid-19 victims. Photo: The Hindu. Taking a step further, Mr. Kumar pointed to another field. “This used to be a children’s cemetery. However, when the number of deaths peaked, we had to turn this into a crematorium and build 72 more cremation pylons. We even had to break down a wall to move the wood in,” he recalls. For about 10 days in April, more than 20 staff at the crematorium, including monks, sanitation workers and helpers, worked 24 hours a day. They even have to cremate their bodies in the middle of the night, which is against Hindu beliefs. “People leave dead bodies at the door without telling us. In addition, many families asked us to send back the video of the cremation ceremony,” Mr. Kumar recalled. “My mother used to make me go home and sleep for a few hours. I chanted sutras even in my sleep, according to family accounts,” he recalls. “Now I can sleep well.” Mr. Kumar has a 6-month-old baby girl. He did not dare to hold his child for the past month and a half due to fear of contracting Covid-19. At home, he ate and slept in a separate corner, trying to stay away from family members. “We didn’t wear protective gear because it was too hot. Can’t breathe… We just use masks and gloves,” he said. Now, the situation is less tense. When India’s vaccination campaign kicked off, all crematorium staff were vaccinated. This is a priority object due to the need to handle the body of a person who died due to Covid-19. “We once cremated a 6-month-old boy, who died from Covid-19, while the father of the baby wept bitterly. I will never forget this scene,” Mr. Kumar said. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused pain to hundreds of thousands of Indian families. Photo: BBC. Return to normal state At Lok Nayak Hospital, two large tents used to be used as waiting rooms for patients in front of the emergency ward. To date, they have been removed. No more patients on oxygen outside the hospital. There is no longer a long line of ambulances with the sound of the patient’s family crying and begging the hospital to accept it. Mr. Abhay, a community volunteer, reminisces about the shifts at the peak of the epidemic. “I don’t want to remember,” he said. At the Punjabi Bagh crematorium, the trees used to die because new pyrements were erected next to them. Now the green sprout is back. “I got used to this scene from last year, so I wasn’t affected much,” said monk Pankaj Sharma. However, for inexperienced monks and staff, seeing a mass of bodies leaves a psychological impact. “There were days when we didn’t have time to eat,” said Deepanshu, a 23-year-old employee. “A working day starts at 6:30. We help the victim’s family. Many were crying, scared, and didn’t know where to go or what to do. We only get to rest after 9-10pm.” Contrary to Seemapuri crematorium staff, Deepanshu and colleagues have not been vaccinated against Covid-19. “When the vaccination campaign started, government officials called us to get information. They asked us to go to a nearby hospital. However, when they arrived at the hospital, they said we were not on the list,” one staff member told The Hindu. During the peak of the epidemic, Indian crematoriums operated day and night. Photo: Reuters. “We are near the bodies of Covid-19 and many Covid-19 patients. We deserve an injection,” Deepanshu asserted. Currently, only 1-2 bodies infected with Covid-19 are brought to this crematorium every day. Most of the pyre are not working. “The situation here is not as bad as other crematoriums. People still have to wait, but with a much shorter time,” said monk Pankaj Sharma.

Religious and cultural communities across East Asia are of the opinion that there should be a space to visit the deceased. (Source: Getty Images) As the global population continues to grow, the space to bury the dead in their final resting place has become a luxury. In some major cities in the US as well as in some other countries around the world, cemetery land is seriously lacking. At the same time, many countries are transforming burial rites, changing the way cemeteries work, and even demolishing historic cemeteries to reclaim land for the living. In Singapore, for example, the government forcibly demolished family graves and replaced them with burying houses cremation . Land for graves in cities is also valid for only 15 years, after which the remains are cremated and that space is left to the next person. In Hong Kong, cemetery land is considered the most expensive real estate per square meter and the government has resorted to the influence of pop stars and other celebrities to encourage people to cremate instead. for burial. Wood burial As early as the 1970s, Japanese officials were concerned about the lack of space burial in urban areas. They offer many novel solutions, from building cemeteries in towns far from the city, where families can organize a vacation to visit loved ones, to renting buses. to bring the dead body to burial in the countryside. Beginning in 1990, the Grave-Free Promotion Society, a voluntary social organization, openly supported the cremation and scattering of the ashes of the deceased. Since 1999, the Shōunji temple in Northern Japan has been trying to come up with a more creative solution to the cemetery land shortage crisis in the form of “wood burial” or Jumokusō. During this burial, families place the ashes of the deceased on the ground and plant trees on top of the ashes to mark the grave site. A smaller temple named Chishōin was also built and placed in a small forest. Here, every year the monks perform a ritual to pray for the deceased. Their families and relatives can still visit and perform religious ceremonies here. Social Transformation The idea of ​​a wooden burial is gradually gaining popularity in Japan. Temples and many other public cemeteries have begun to adopt this model. Scholar Sébastian Penmellen Boret wrote in her 2016 book that the form carpentry burial reflects the larger changes in Japanese society. After World War II, Buddhism’s influence on Japanese society declined as hundreds of new religious movements blossomed. (Source: yahoo.com) In addition, increasing urbanization has eroded the traditional relationships inherent between families and local temples, where their ancestors’ graves are buried and cared for. Method burial Under the trees is also significantly less expensive than traditional burial methods. This is an important thing for many Japanese who are struggling to make ends meet. Religious and cultural communities across East Asia are of the opinion that there should be a space to visit the deceased. According to Confucian tradition, every son is responsible for taking care of his parents, grandparents, and deceased ancestors through ritual offerings of food and other items. During the Obon festival usually held in mid-August, Japanese Buddhists will visit the family graves and make food and drink for their ancestors, as they believe that the deceased will visit the world. humanity during this time. The ancestral offerings are repeated every six months at the spring and autumn equinoxes, called “ohigan”.

On April 12, three million Indians gathered on the banks of the Ganges River. They gathered in the ancient city of Haridwar, in the state of Uttarakhand, to take a dip in the sacred river. Devoted and full of Hindu devotees crowded the streets. The Naga Sadhus, the “saints” of the Hindu ascetic practice, pose for a photo on the banks of the Ganges. Photo: AFP. This is one of the holiest days of the Kumbh Mela festival. This festival is one of the most important occasions for Hindus, attracting millions of pilgrims every year. On the same day, India recorded 169,000 new Covid-19 cases and surpassed Brazil to become the second hardest-hit country by the pandemic, according to Guardian . Ignore danger In the weeks before that, a second deadly wave of Covid-19 swept across the whole of India. However, calls to cancel the festival were rejected. By April 15, more than 2,000 festivalgoers had tested positive for the virus. As of the end of the festival on April 28, more than 9 million people have soaked in the water of the Ganges River. The actual number of Kumbh Mela participants is yet to be announced. Millions of pilgrims return home without being tested or quarantined. Several states have begun belated efforts to trace and isolate returnees from Kumbh Mela. In Madhya Pradesh, 789 pilgrims have been placed in quarantine. Of those, 118 tested positive. The Naga Sandhus attend a procession on the banks of the Ganges. Photo: Reuters. T Jacob John, former head of virology at the Indian Council of Medical Research, said: “The pilgrims in the states carry with them mutated strains of the virus and spread the disease everywhere.” . Ashish Jha, dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University, said that Kumbh Mela could be “the largest super-contagious event in the history of the Covid-19 pandemic”. Devotees attend night prayers on the banks of the Ganges River at the Kumbh Mela festival, April 13. Photo: Reuters. During the festival period, the state of Uttarakhand recorded a 1,800% increase in the number of virus positive cases. Most of the infections are related to the Kumbh Mela festival. No one escapes Covid-19 Thakur Puran Singh, a senior member of the BJP, does not believe he has contracted Covid-19 at Kumbh Mela. At dawn on April 9, he and his family drove nearly 600 km to Haridwar to attend the Kumbh Mela. Over the next five days, his family took several dips in the Ganges River. On April 16, a day after returning home, Mr. Singh started showing symptoms of Covid-19. At first, he refused to believe that he had Covid-19. However, on April 21, his condition worsened. When he was taken to a local hospital, doctors suspected he had Covid-19 because his lungs had been damaged. His son did not believe him and took him to another hospital that he considered more reputable. Thakur Puran Singh and family participate in Kumbh Mela festival. Photo: The Guardian. “I couldn’t believe the doctors and their diagnosis. I didn’t even wear a mask when I took my dad to the hospital,” said Dinesh Singh Thakur. However, Mr. Singh died en route. Eight days later, his brother, Balwant Singh, also died with symptoms of Covid-19. “Even after Mr Singh’s death, the family kept a secret that they had come to Kumbh Mela,” said Dr. Shameema, regional medical director. After returning, they also participated in four weddings. Dr Iqbal Malik, another health official, confirmed that four members of Mr Singh’s family have tested positive. More than two dozen other people who were in close contact with Singh’s family members also had similar results. Mr. Singh’s body was cremated according to the procedures of the victim who died from Covid-19. However, his family still does not believe that he died from the virus. “There are 11 people in my family, why is it that only my father is gone? My father’s death was not due to Covid-19. Fate has called him,” Thakur said. Regret Gopal Singh’s family and neighbors were touched to see him return to his hometown from Kumbh Mela. The people of Madhi Chaubisa village came out to greet him and hoped for blessings. Contrary to the joy of the villagers, he was still terrified. Singh joined about 100 others from the surrounding villages on a sacred pilgrimage to Kumbh Mela. On the way home, he saw everyone falling ill. Many passengers said they had high fever and diarrhea. However, their vehicle did not stop at any of the Covid-19 testing sites. Devotees await the Naga Sadhus at the Kumbh Mela festival. Photo: AP. “I have been to Kumbh Mela twice before but I have never seen anything like this. A lot of people have been infected,” he said. Mr Singh insisted on being tested for Covid-19 despite a local doctor dismissing his concerns. Four days later, as expected, he was positive for SARS-CoV-2. Before that, he had contact with many people in the village. Three other people traveling with Mr Singh also tested positive. Ragu Raj Dangi, head of the village, said: “After everyone returned from Kumbh Mela, the number of people with Covid-19 has increased to more than 30 cases in just a few days. There are still a lot of other people who have symptoms but haven’t been tested.” A few days later, Mamta Bhai, Mr. Singh’s neighbour, developed a fever. She was treated by a local doctor. Although she was later taken to the intensive care unit, she still did not survive. Singh feels guilty: “Stubbornness and ignorance pushed us into a disaster. I feel terrible. Because of fanatics like me, other people get the virus.” Mr. Pragyaanant Giri, a Hindu monk, also went to Kumbh Mela. Like many at the monastery, he believes Covid-19 is a conspiracy. After a month of attending the festival, Mr. Giri developed symptoms of a sore throat and high fever. His companions advised him to rest. The police officer asks a person to leave after taking a dip in the water of the Ganges. Photo: Reuters. After that, his condition worsened. After two weeks of intensive care, Mr. Giri passed away. Despite the rules for patients dying from Covid-19, his body was buried at the monastery. People in the monastery said: “More than 10 people who came into contact with Mr Giri have developed Covid-19 symptoms and some have been hospitalized. However, most members of the monastery are not tested.” Even after Giri’s death, the belief that Covid-19 is not real still pervades the monastery. Swami Harigiri, the head of the monastery, thinks this is a plot against the Hindus. “We drink cow urine. Covid-19 will not affect us. Giri’s death caused by Covid-19 is fake news,” he said. In a small village in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, a group of five women came to the festival on an 11-day trip. After returning, two people died. Although the local health department announced the victims had tested negative for Covid-19, family members told a different story. Awadh Kishore Tiwari, grandson of Bindu Devi, one of the two dead women, said: “She fell ill the day she returned home. The very next day she was gone forever. My mother also tested positive after coming into contact with her.” Ms Devi’s brother-in-law, Awadhesh Chauhan, said he advised her not to attend the Kumbh Mela because of Covid-19. However, she laughed off: “Nothing will happen to me, don’t worry”. Bringing the ashes of unclaimed Covid-19 victims to the Ganges River Indian volunteers collect ashes from crematoriums to organize funerals for Covid-19 victims in Haridwar city.

The Perpetual Coral Cemetery is part of the restoration and restoration of the marine environment. “As soon as I received his ashes from the crematorium, I suddenly thought about what it would be like to let him lie on the bottom of his favorite ocean, becoming a beautiful part of the ocean ecosystem,” recalls Brawley. Efforts to save corals Eternal Reefs is a funeral company based in Florida (USA). It is famous for the most “beautiful” burial method, which contributes to the regeneration of the marine ecosystem. The beginning of Eternal Reefs is quite simple. In the late 1980s, a pair of scuba diving friends, Don Brawley and Todd Barber, of the University of Georgia noticed that coral reefs were deteriorating. They decided to do something to stop the decline and quickly recover. After much discussion and design, Brawley and Barber were satisfied with the initiative of Reef balls. They use natural materials that both have good cohesion and attract marine life, molded into an upside-down, hollow bowl shape, with many circular holes all around. These holes allow water to pass through, avoiding being knocked over by the waves and allowing animals to get in and out. A bowl of coral can weigh from 800 – 4,000 pounds (360 – 1,800kg), sink and settle on the seabed forever. Its structure acts as a home for small animals, immediately attracting them to swim in. After just a few weeks, the artificially implanted coral tissues on the surface of the bowl grew, turning the bare bowl frame into a lively, eye-catching cluster of coral. Sea creatures flock to each other, forming diverse natural habitats. Immediately after its introduction, the coral bowl has become the most effective solution to save the ocean ecosystem. As of 2020, more than 70 countries have applied it to about 5,000 marine restoration projects, placing over 750,000 bowls across the ocean. Perfect submerged cemetery Family members are encouraged to make their own bowls of coral reefs. In early 1998, Brawley’s father-in-law, Carleton “Petey” Glen Palmer, died. During his life, Palmer was extremely fond of the sea, always wishing after death to still see the ocean floor. “Spray my ashes into the sea, where there are plenty of snapper and grouper,” he left a testament to Brawley. While sitting in memory of his father-in-law in front of the urn recently received from the crematorium, Brawley suddenly had a strange idea. That is to mix the ashes with the coral bowl casting mixture and start immediately. On May 1, 1998, Brawley buried his father-in-law and nine pioneers with a bowl of coral in Sarasota Beach, Florida. The first human ashes coral cemetery was born, after only a few months, it became a beautiful part of the underwater landscape. Or believe, sea lovers race to enjoy diving. Former marines, marine environmentalists, fishermen, divers, etc. who are about to be “near land far from heaven” warmly welcome Eternal Reefs. The sea grave coral bowl quickly became popular. Eternal Reefs allows and encourages bereaved families to participate in the process of making coral bowls, carving tombstones, launching… The location of the sea grave coral bowl is the reef area that has been designated for ecological restoration. In addition to the burial coral bowls, ordinary coral bowls are also placed, serving the regeneration of the marine environment. “2nd Life” After only a few months, the bowl of sea coral has turned into a home for a large number of sea creatures. On average each year, Eternal Reefs contributes 120 – 150 bowls of sea coral in thousands of artificial coral bowls. Depending on the size, the cost for a bowl of sea grave coral ranges from 4,000 – 7,500 USD (about 91 – 170 million VND). Eternal Reefs does not limit the number of ashes in a bowl of coral, so the bereaved can choose to bury one or more people. They are also allowed to attach memorial objects to the coral bowl, but must ensure that it is environmentally friendly. During the process of bringing the bowl of coral to the sea and launching it, the bereaved family can combine a farewell ceremony. Once placed on the seabed, the bowl of sea coral will stay in place forever. Relatives of the deceased have the right to visit, but are not allowed to move or collect. In recent years, in addition to those who work in the sea-related industry, Eternal Reefs also welcomes many other customers. Among these, there are many people who are parents who have met the fate of “silver-headed and green-headed”. They are too pitiful, want their lost child to have a second life and find salvation in the bowl of coral reefs. Compared with 750,000 bowls of artificial coral placed all over the seabed, the bowl of sea grave coral only accounts for a small number. However, Brawley believes it will make a big difference in burial customs around the world. In fact, the world is filled with more and more people who don’t want to rest in traditional ways. With the exception of marine grave coral bowls, many other ecological burial methods have also captured the attention. For example, composting corpses into soil, hydrolysis, releasing ashes into space…

Two weeks ago, just as dawn broke over the Ganges, a riverside resident discovered several bodies drifting into the shallows of the river most sacred to Indians. Darsan Nishad – a 35-year-old man working for a local environmental program – pulled the eight bodies out of the water. He then tied these bodies with sacks to take them away to check the cause of death. Finally, the unfortunate victims will be cremated – according to Hindu rites. “We don’t know where these bodies come from. We didn’t even know if they had any diseases,” said Nishad, pointing to the area where he and his colleagues had to carry out this difficult task. Hindus make offerings to the sacred Ganges River after scattering the ashes of their loved ones. Hundreds of bodies were found floating or buried in the river in May. Photo: Washington Post. Saddened by the experience, Nishad shared his belief in the Ganges, which Hindus revere as a sacred river. According to Hindu beliefs, anyone who has bathed in the river will be cleansed of all sins. “The river has great spiritual significance to us. Indians believe that if you dip yourself in this water even once, you will be protected for life,” said Nishad, standing a few feet from the crematorium in the river. “For us, the river is the goddess,” said Nishad. This is just a small number of hundreds of other bodies floating or buried in sand along the length of the river in the context that India suffered the second worst consequences in the world because of the Covid-19 pandemic. after America. Worried fisherman The mystery surrounding the bodies remains unanswered. Authorities have not been able to find out how many people have Covid-19 among those bodies. Many believe that some families have opted for extreme measures – dropping the bodies of loved ones in the Ganges – because they cannot afford to cremate them. Before the second wave of Covid-19 “swallowed” India, the cremation rite cost only 70 USD. However, the number has now risen to more than $400 – almost six times higher – since the end of April. In Sujabad – a large community that depends on the Ganges for a living – many people are currently without work. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused the loss of jobs for river boaters carrying pilgrims and tourists. With bodies constantly dropping into the river causing pollution, local fishermen are worried about their catch and fish stocks being affected. For many people, the source of fish on the sacred river has been a way of life for a long time. The Indian crematorium burns day and night. Photo: New York Times. According to people here, the most prosperous business at this time is providing wood for the crematorium. As of May 23, India recorded more than 26.2 million cases of Covid-19 and more than 295,000 deaths. The number of new infections per day in India has recently decreased, but the average number of deaths in the past 7 days has remained high, above 4,000 people per day. The “tsunami” of Covid-19 has put the Indian economy on the brink of collapse. Like the bodies found in the Ganges – whether they died from coronavirus, heart attacks or old age – residents of communities like Sujabad are falling victim to this virus. Government gets involved Images of floating bodies prompted authorities to step in. Patrol ships are deployed across more than 2,400 kilometers of the Ganges River. State and local governments have established a network of free cremation sites – providing firewood and inviting priests to perform Masses for families who cannot afford it. Hundreds of such crematoriums have been opened across Varanasi, the holy city on the banks of the Ganges in Uttar Pradesh state, and home to a series of steps leading down to the Ganges (called ghats). Usually, Hindus will gather in large numbers at ghats to bathe, baptize their children and scatter the ashes of the dead. However, now the ghats are uninhabited, while the crematoriums operate continuously day and night. In downtown Varanasi, officials have set up a Covid-19 “command center”. Here, thousands of staff will take calls from residents, check on patients, order ambulances for those in need of hospitalization and arrange cremation services. A large screen hung on the wall continuously displays the latest information on the number of hospital beds, oxygen supply and the number of new infections. Government employees patrol the Ganges River. Photo: Washington Post. Share with Washington Post , cleric Satindra Kumar in Varanasi could not hide his fatigue after long days of performing funeral rites. “I have performed the funeral rite 15 times in the past two days, most of the dead are patients with corona virus. People who don’t die from the disease also come here,” Kumar said. “The pandemic is so devastating! Everyone is afraid and suffering. I cannot stop what is happening, but I will continue to pray. I hope that will bring peace to the relatives of the deceased.” Even the poor still have to celebrate However, in rural areas, there is no similar service for the family of someone who has died of Covid-19 or other causes. Despite the extra cost, many people still make trips to the ghats to pray for their loved ones in accordance with Hindu custom. They believe that even with the added economic burden on their shoulders, they still have to bear to follow the ancestral traditions. Journalist of Washington Post witnessed a group of peasants reach out to one of Varanasi’s oldest ghats to perform funerals for three loved ones. Cremation platforms along the riverside. Photo: Getty. They prepare offerings consisting of pellets and spices, wrapped in large leaves under the supervision of a Hindu priest. After the bodies of three loved ones were blessed, the men stepped off the ghats, floated their offerings in the river, and began scattering the ashes. After that, besides the cremation fee, the group also had to pay the ceremony money for the ceremony just now. They anxiously counted every penny they had accumulated, plus the costs of barbers, photographers and gifts. They do not hesitate to pay expensive expenses to fulfill their religious obligations at a time of uncertainty, fear of an invisible and deadly force. “For generations, villagers have come here to perform the last rites of life,” said Lakshmi Singh, a farmer in his 60s. Bringing the ashes of unclaimed Covid-19 victims to the Ganges River Indian volunteers collect ashes from crematoriums to organize funerals for Covid-19 victims in Haridwar city.

Before Covid-19 appeared, the Ganges River was once “flooded with corpses”. In 1918, when an influenza pandemic swept through India and killed an estimated 18 million people, the river’s waters filled with the smell of rotting corpses. This creepy scene is making a comeback because of a pandemic. The official death toll in India is reported to be more than 250,000, but experts say the real number is five times higher, according to Guardians. These bodies began to wash up on the banks of the sacred river, becoming a haunting symbol for the uncounted Covid-19 deaths. According to the Economist , these images also reveal the picture of Indian society with poor people struggling to cope with the pandemic and make a living. Relatives and relatives carry the body of a person who died of Covid-19 to be buried on the banks of the Ganges River. Photo: Shutterstock. No one sells firewood to cremate relatives On May 19, India continued to set a new record for the number of deaths in a day due to Covid-19: 4,529 people. This is the highest number of daily Covid-19 deaths of any country ever, surpassing the previous record in the US with 4,475 deaths in a day. To date, India has recorded more than 25 million cases and 275,000 deaths from Covid-19. However, there are no official statistics on the number of bodies discovered in the past two weeks in the open stretch of the Ganges that flows through the poor rural states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, or buried in shallow sandy graves along the riverbanks. in Uttar Pradesh. Through statistics, locals and journalists here put the number of more than 2,000 bodies. In the village of Gahmar in Uttar Pradesh, 15-year-old Raju Chaudhry, who works on a fishing boat, said he had recently seen “about 50 bodies being washed away every day, for many days”. There is no way to know if these people have Covid-19 or not, although Indian authorities have acknowledged some of the bodies as those who died from the pandemic. According to official figures released by the government, the death and infection rate of Covid-19 in Gahmar village is low. But Bhupendra Upadhyay, a priest here, said a lot of people have died in the past few weeks. Earthen vases hang from a banyan tree by the Ganges River in the village of Gahmar, each representing a person who has just died. Photo: Guardian. “I saw 30 to 35 bodies being brought into the river recently and drowned here. Many people drop dead bodies in the river because they have difficulty arranging cremation, because there are so many dead people,” he said. Upadhyay pointed to the trunk of the banyan tree where he was sitting. On the trunk, dozens of earthen pots are tied up. “Each of those vases represents a deceased person. Let’s see how many, just from the last 10 days,” he said. In the case of Shambhu Nath, his family had no difficulty in cremation, as villagers helped and attended the funeral. But after the second brother in the family died of Covid-19, they found themselves abandoned by their neighbors. “When we tried to buy firewood for our cremation, we were chased away. No one in the village could help us with the cremation because they suspected we had Covid-19. We couldn’t get the wood and didn’t know what else to do. , so we had to drown his body in the river. We did it at 11am the next morning, and only a close family came to offer condolences,” he said. What do corpses in the Ganges reveal? Sheet Economist An assessment of India’s covid-19 crisis, with images of corpses floating in the Ganges, reveals two things. One is the scale of the tragedy sweeping across the vast territory of India. In remote rural areas, far from city clinics, people are not being tested for Covid-19. Therefore, no cases or deaths were recorded. The officially published death toll is now a fraction of the true number. Economist identify. The second thing that the bodies in the Ganges reveal is that this wave of Covid-19 is ravaging the lives of the poor, who are already struggling to make ends meet. The poor are losing their jobs, starving to eat and falling victim to scams. Jammu and Kashmir State Disaster Response Force soldiers carry empty coffins to transport the bodies of people who died of Covid-19 on May 19. Photo: AP. “People borrow money to pay for medicines, or oxygen tanks, or pay extra fees for ambulance drivers because they have to carry Covid-19 patients. So they can’t afford to pay for cremation or funeral. ceremony,” Utpal Pathak, a local journalist, told Economist. After the first wave of Covid-19 swept through India in 2020, many local newspapers and research institutes tried to calculate the economic impact of the pandemic on the poor. Pew Research Institute estimates that as of January 2020, only 4.3% of Indians earn less than $2. A year later, that number had increased to 9.7%, or 134 million people. In-depth research by Azim Premji University in Bangalore shows that after the 2020 nationwide lockdown, about 230 million Indians slipped below the poverty line, which is set based on the minimum wage (about $45 a month). ). The university researchers also found that during the lockdown, 90% of the poor consumed less food. Six months later, their diets still haven’t returned to normal. In the past year, the income of Indian workers, including the lucky 10% who have a salaried job, has fallen by a third, according to the report. Economist. Shocked by the terrible impact of the pandemic and the blockade order in 2020, this year, the central government of India let the state and local governments to impose the blockade order on their own based on the actual situation. “Although the economy has not yet come to a complete standstill, the scale of this outbreak still leaves many families devastated.” Economist write. A worker helps cremate a body on the banks of the Ganges River. Photo: Getty. For many people, the biggest shock is the loss of family breadwinners. The Indian railway company has 1.2 million employees, but Covid-19 killed 1,952 employees here. In April, the state of Uttar Pradesh dispatched 1.2 million civil servants to work on local elections and counting votes. Report of Economist said this election was the cause of the large-scale outbreak. It is estimated that about 2,000 of the aforementioned civil servants died afterward, including 800 teachers. Each of those deaths cost their families weeks of grief and expensive treatment. Not to mention each person who died could have infected and made 20 others seriously ill. “In a normal year, one in 20 families is pushed into poverty due to high medical costs. What has happened in the last two months is understandable. Millions of wonderful Indian families Hope was forced to sell gold, pawn or borrow money. Economist write. In times of poverty, people are vulnerable to a variety of scams, such as healthcare workers demanding bribes to secure hospital admissions, purchasing counterfeit drugs, or even in some states, painted scams. on fire extinguishers to sell as oxygen tanks. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who has been promoting an herbal “cure” for Covid-19, last week advised Indians to eat more dark chocolate with “more than 70% cocoa” to beat the stress of the pandemic. . Bringing the ashes of unclaimed Covid-19 victims to the Ganges River Indian volunteers collect ashes from crematoriums to organize funerals for Covid-19 victims in Haridwar city.

Depending on each religion, ashes after cremation are buried or brought home to worship or sent to places of worship such as pagodas, churches, communal houses, shrines, etc. as a solution to pray for sucess. Place the ashes in the temple In addition to the above forms, some people will scatter the ashes to rivers, lakes, hills and mountains according to the wishes of the deceased. Among the ways of disposing of ashes, scattering ashes is considered the most popular choice in many countries around the world. At that time, relatives will carry the ashes of the deceased and scatter them in the wind, on the ground or in the water (sea, lake, etc.). This is considered a symbolic meaning for the release of the deceased. Families can share memories of the places they went to with the deceased or fulfill their last wishes. Illustration. Scatter ashes into the sea Besides scattering ashes in the wind, many people will choose to keep the ashes of their loved ones and place them in a certain place such as in the house, funeral home, garden, etc. If they want to keep a loved one’s ashes in their own home, some people will scatter the ashes by storing them in an urn and leaving them where they feel most comfortable. Some people will choose to bury the ashes of the deceased through forms such as placing in the ashes storage cabinets provided by the funeral home, at the funeral home. Ashes store In addition, memories at the familiar garden of the family. With that, we always have the feeling that the deceased always exists, always exists around here. The above treatment methods are still considered to be popular in the world. Besides those common ways, there are also some strange and creative ways of storing the ashes of deceased loved ones. According to a source from Vietnamnet, one of them is making jewelry from a small part of the ashes of the deceased. It can be stone, diamond or crystal decoration on rings, bracelets, necklaces. This is considered a creative form of ashes handling that gives the meaning of always wanting to keep the deceased loved one by his side. Use part of the ashes as jewelry. Instead of keeping the ashes in an urn at home, some people will mix the ashes with materials such as lacquer, paint, etc. to paint and hang the picture in their own home.

To date, India has recorded more than 25 million cases and 275,000 deaths from Covid-19. However, many experts say the real number could be many times higher. On the riverbanks, many cremation pylons burned around the clock, many cremation sites had no space left. This phenomenon partly reflects the unprecedented number of deaths and has not been updated in official data. According to the BBC , behind the bodies floating in the river is a story of customs, poverty and a deadly pandemic. Many cremation pylons burn around the clock in India. Photo: Getty. Frighten The horrifying story in the state of Uttar Pradesh first came to light on May 10. The opening was the event of 71 bodies washed up on the riverbank in the village of Chausa in Bihar. Officials said some of the remains may have been leftover body parts that fell into the Ganges after cremations, but they suspect the bodies were dumped in the river. The police put a net across the water to prevent the same thing from happening. A day later, about 10 kilometers from Chausa, dogs and crows were seen swarming with dozens of decomposing bodies on the banks of a river in the village of Gahmar, in the Pradesh Ghazipur region of Uttar state. Locals said the body had been washed up on the embankment for several days. However, the authorities ignored their complaints about the stench until news of the corpses found downstream of Bihar made the news. Dozens of bodies swell and decompose, floating in the river. They were discovered by people when they went for a morning dip in India’s holiest river. Sheet Hindustan Police reported that 62 bodies had been recovered. Meanwhile, in Kannauj, Kanpur, Unnao and Prayagraj, the riverbanks are dotted with shallow graves. Shallow graves by the Ganges River. Photo: Getty. Videos sent to BBC from the banks of the Mehndi ghat in Kannauj shows a series of mounds in the shape of human corpses. Each of these mounds contained a body. At the nearby Mahadevi ghat, at least 50 bodies were found. Crematorium is overloaded Traditionally, Hindus will cremate the dead. However, many communities have a practice known as “Jal Pravah” – the practice of floating the bodies of children, unmarried women, or those who have died of an infectious disease or been bitten by a snake. Many poor people do not have money to cremate their loved ones, so they also wrap their bodies in white cotton cloth and drop them into the water. Sometimes bodies are tied to rocks to ensure they will sink to the bottom of the river, but many bodies are floated without the stones tied. In the time before the pandemic, corpses floating in the Ganges were not an uncommon sight. However, the number of bodies in the river is too much in recent times, still surprising many people. A journalist in Kanpur said the number of bodies in the river was proof of the “big disparity between the official death toll and the actual death toll related to Covid-19” in India. He said that from April 16 to May 5, the official reported number was 196 deaths in Kanpur, but data from seven crematoriums showed there were nearly 8,000 cremations. “All electric crematoriums are open 24/7 in April. Even so, there are still not enough furnaces to cremate bodies, so the government has allowed the use of wood on the outside grounds for cremation,” he said. to speak. “However, crematoriums only accept confirmed Covid-19 bodies from the hospital, while a very large number of people who died at home have not been tested. Families of the dead bring the bodies of their loved ones out. on the outskirts of the city or to neighboring districts like Unnao. When they can’t find wood or a place to cremate, they drop the bodies on the riverbed.” Cremation platforms along the riverside. Photo: Getty. Another journalist in Prayagraj also believes that many of the bodies in the river are those of Covid-19 patients who died at home without being tested, or poor people who can’t afford cremation. “It’s heartbreaking,” he said. “These people are someone’s son, daughter, brother, sister, father or mother. They deserve to be respected when they die. But their deaths are not even recorded – no one knows they died or is known. How to be buried? Burial from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m The discovery of graves and decomposing bodies, along with fears that the bodies could have contracted Covid-19 have sparked panic in villages along the river. Originating in the Himalayas, the Ganges is one of the largest rivers in the world. Hindus consider this river a sacred river, they believe that bathing in the Ganges will wash away sins and use this river water for religious ceremonies. In Kannauj, Jagmohan Tiwari, a 63-year-old resident, reported seeing “150-200 shallow graves” by the river. “The burial took place from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.,” he said. The discovery of the graves caused panic in the area. People worry that bodies buried on the ground will start to float in the river when it rains and the water level rises. On May 12, the state government banned the practice of “Jal Pravah” and provided support for poor families who could not afford cremation. Relatives of a victim stand near the riverbank while the body is cremated. Photo: Getty. In many places, the police used sticks to retrieve the body from the river and called on the boatman to bring the body to the shore. After being retrieved, the decomposed bodies are buried in pits or burned on a cremation pyre. Ghazipur district judge Mangala Prasad Singh said teams had been set up, patrolling the riverbanks and cremation grounds to prevent people from dumping bodies in rivers or burying them on the banks. Bringing the ashes of unclaimed Covid-19 victims to the Ganges River Indian volunteers collect ashes from crematoriums to organize funerals for Covid-19 victims in Haridwar city.

But also in the media, it is seen that every morning, hundreds of Indians in the midst of the pandemic go to bathe in the Ganges River. No masks. No spacing. They hardly know or need to know what a Pandemic is… Peaceful Ganges! That’s the real India! Peaceful India is a country of religion! The etymology of the sacred Ganges is “Ganga”, the embodiment of the goddess Ganga – the daughter of the Himalayas – the guardian deity – the great mother of the country. Legend has it that in order to save the people from the severe drought, the god Sihva pulled a river from the sky above the heavens to flow through his hair for thousands of years and then poured down to earth. In the Vedas, there are also the most solemn words praising the Ganges River, which has the function of dissolving all sins and cleansing all impurities. According to Hindu beliefs – the majority of the Indian continent, bathing in the Ganges River means that all sins are washed away. If you drink river water before you die, it is a good omen for both the living and those who return to heaven. Many Hindus also ask to be cremated on the banks of the Ganges and then scatter the ashes into the river. Throughout history, since the legend, every morning, at dawn, tens of thousands of Indians flock to the banks of the Ganges River to bathe, meet, share, and chat. For them it is a great gift of life, so no power can take it away, not even the scary but invisible COVID virus… In the symbol of humanity, “water” which symbolizes the purification of desire directs people to the bright and benevolent domain. Because it is a flow, “river” is a symbol of renewal and rebirth. Moreover, it is also a symbol of purity (because of being purified) and an instrument of liberation. But with Indian culture, the holy Ganges River has a higher symbolic meaning than “giving prosperity and blessed salvation”. Therefore, those who bathe in the Ganges river will be “transmitted purity into their hearts” by the goddess. Most Hindus certainly believe so! The Ganges River becomes the patron god of the life and people of India, the mother river that flows cultural flows into the body of Indian society. Where there is lack of spiritual water from that spiritual flow, that place is not India! The most primitive legend tells that the goddess Ganga was always standing on a sea monster, which was her means of transportation. Her holy face was both stern, tolerant, kind, and holy. Her figure shows a symbol of strength, nobility, courage. She always wears a crown to reveal her high, pure, bright forehead. She always wears a necklace low down to her bountiful breasts symbolizing her ability to bestow prosperity… This legend is the fulcrum for two immortal epics, “Ramayana” and “Mahabharata”, the most massive ancient epics in the world. The “Mahabharata” alone is 7 times the length of the “Iliad” and “Odyssey” combined. A Battle on the banks of the Ganges in “Ramayana”! It can be affirmed that the structure of the massive “Mahabharata” epic is the structure of the great Ganges river flow because the river is like an artistic symbol expressing the spiritual life of the main characters, who govern and direct the people. as a spiritual leader. The opening part of the epic tells about the origin of genealogies with the main core being that the Vasus family sinned against the Taoist Vasita, so they were reincarnated into the world as the children of the goddess Ganges and King Santanu. As soon as they were born, they were thrown into the river by their mother (goddess) to free them from the Taoist spell. This is a great and constant archetype so that everyone wants to bathe in the Ganges River in the future with the desire to wash away sins. The motif of bathing in the sea and sacred river water becomes a common symbol for human culture talking about renewal and rebirth. God of Fire in Greek mythology was a naughty, hyperactive boy who once provoked Dot, so he was thrown into the sea, unfortunately, he fell on an island and lost his leg. Since then, the Fire god has been limping (flashing like fire!). In Egyptian mythology, Prince Morann, son of the king of Cairpe, was born a mute monster and was thrown into the sea. Fortunately, the sea water broke the monster mask so that later the prince became a great judge… But among those episodes, the meaning of bathing in the Ganges river is the most enduring, followed by many people. Best. And maybe forever as long as there is the Ganges! When epic wars occurred, the Ganges River served as a witness to history. Only in the space of the Ganges can the characters “enlighten” the truth and morality as well as the principles of Indian spiritual life, of the Indian spirit of peace and selflessness. Sacred water helps them return to their human roots to neutralize hatred. In front of the Ganges, the sinner will realize his sin and repent… There is an event that no one will miss when reading “Mahabharata” when the villain Aswatthama fled to the banks of the Ganges with the most cruel revenge of killing the Pandava family’s grandson still in the womb. but this action was nullified by the god Krishna. Then the whole Pandava family forgave him… It turned out that the Ganges had sanctified people. Since then forgiveness has become an Indian character, an Indian spirituality. At the end of the war, despite the victory, there is no victory song, because the war is destruction anyway, on both sides. King Yudhisthira triumphantly ascended the throne, but there were no grand festivals. Just a ritual sacrifice: “The king went to the Ganges River and according to the traditional custom of offering sacrifices to pray for the souls of the deceased to rest.” It should be said more clearly that the king prayed for all the dead souls, both on this side, on the other side, regardless. This detail shows more clearly the human meaning of the king’s enthronement without the corresponding ritual. It’s an Indian identity! And yet, King Yudhisthira is also depicted when standing in front of the Ganges River, he is like standing in front of a sacred, sacred and extremely mysterious cathedral, and then the mood rises with torment about what he has caused suffering to people. other. He repented. He judges and punishes himself. He became a symbol of endurance and patience… This symbol entered Indian culture and became a living and action maxim: “Patience is the highest virtue!”, “Tolerance is fame, endurance is glory!”. The Indian cosmology is also: “All things operate according to the principle of endurance!”. So we understand the modern Indian revolution based on the principle of non-violence! Because the moral concepts of endurance and patience have become the spiritual foundation of Indian society! In the epic “Ramayana” the characters always pray and bow to the Ganges. The character always considers the river a fulcrum of strength, a moral fulcrum for action. It is a creed as constant in each character. Legend has it that King Xagara sent sixty thousand sons to find the lost sacrificial horse. Those sons traveled all over the world, finally finding the horse near Kapila. They immediately thought that He was a thief. Enraged, the god Kapila burned all the children of King Xagara. The king’s grandson, Angxumana, received advice: “You must make offerings to the sacred water of Ganga. Okay, then the ashes of these sixty thousand people will go to heaven.” Indeed, when offering water to the Ganges River, the souls of the dead are liberated to the high land of bliss. Legend is deeply ingrained, imprinted in the Indian mind: When you die, you will be cremated on the banks of the Ganges River is a happiness! Tradition must always be in sync with the present for people to enter civilization. To hold on to tradition is to be conservative. The whole world is making the best efforts to prevent the epidemic … but in India it is not yet. That’s the lesson: A traditional gem in the light of modern science will shine even brighter!

Even more sad is that those endless tragedies still have no end. These stories will appear more and more, as the Covid-19 pandemic begins to spread from big cities to rural India, where the health system is much worse than the urban areas. The picture is full of contrasts The Indian capital New Delhi recorded nearly 12,500 new Covid-19 cases on May 12 – just half of the number recorded here on April 30. Another somewhat positive sign is that the positive rate of tests has dropped to 19%, from a peak of 36% a few weeks earlier. A farmers market in Mumbai on May 11. Photo: Reuters. A similar positive situation is recorded in Mumbai – India’s most populous city. The positive rate of the test here dropped to 7%, below the 10% recommended by WHO. That partly shows that the two largest cities of India are gradually controlling the epidemic. However, if looking at the whole picture, the picture of the Covid-19 pandemic does not seem to have too many bright spots. Dark spots are appearing more and more, especially in rural India. This leads to a conundrum: If New Delhi, which has good health infrastructure and many good hospitals, struggles to contain the pandemic, how can rural areas where the system much weaker health care – can withstand the wave of epidemics. And the answer came pretty quickly. When the source of oxygen is exhausted On May 11, Sri Venkateswara Ramnarain Ruia Hospital in Andhra Pradesh state ran out of oxygen supply, while more than 60 patients were in critical condition. 11 patients later died. In anger, relatives of these people stormed into the intensive care unit, knocking over tables and chairs and smashing equipment. Television images showed several people clutching their heads in grief, while doctors and nurses fled for fear of assault. A Covid-19 patient is being cared for at a public hospital in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Photo: Reuters. Andhra Pradesh, like many other southern states, is facing severe oxygen shortages. Statistics of an Indian newspaper show that oxygen depletion has taken place in 20 hospitals, leading to the deaths of more than 200 patients. In the past, the southern states of India have agreed to share oxygen with each other. Now, some states want to end the cooperation. The southern state of Tamil Nadu refused to share oxygen with the neighboring state of Andhra Pradesh, where the tragedy took place that left 11 people dead. The state of Kerala also refused to share oxygen because of the state’s high demand for oxygen, as the test positive rate in the state increased to 27% from 8% in early April. “Many people have died without treatment,” commented Rijo M. John, a health economist in Kerala. Behind the bodies in the river People in Bihar, a northern Indian state, could not help but be shocked when they discovered dozens of bodies, suspected of being Covid-19 victims, washed up on the banks of the Ganges River on May 10. “I have never seen so many corpses,” said Arun Kumar Srivastava, a local doctor. He also said that “there will certainly be more deaths”, as many people carry bodies on their shoulders. A family member of a Covid-19 patient is grieving after hearing the news of a loved one’s death. Photo: Reuters. Officials said the bodies were dropped by ambulance drivers from a bridge, and denied that the bodies were floated by relatives due to lack of burial conditions. Krishna Dutt Mishra, an ambulance driver in Bihar, said that many people had to drop the bodies of loved ones in the river because the cremation price was too high. According to him, during the second Covid-19 wave, the price of cremation has increased from 2,000 rupees (about 27 USD) to 15,000 rupees (200 USD). This is a huge sum of money for many Indian families, and as a result, cremating a loved one becomes an impossibility for them. “I drove all the way from Buxar to Chausa. I’ve never seen dead bodies in the river, let alone seen dozens, or hundreds of bodies,” Mr. Mishra said. Bringing the ashes of unclaimed Covid-19 victims to the Ganges River Indian volunteers collect ashes from crematoriums to organize funerals for Covid-19 victims in Haridwar city.

The banks of the Ganges River in the city of Garhmukteshwar, Uttar Pradesh state (India’s most populous state) became a place to cremate the bodies of people who died of COVID-19. Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES The epidemic is spreading rapidly to the countryside After four consecutive days of recording the number of infections above 400,000 / day, the last two days the number of daily infections in India has fallen below this level. Many government health officials and experts predict this second wave of epidemics in India will peak around the end of this week. However, it seems that the epidemic crisis in India is moving to a more dangerous new phase. The danger is that the virus is now spreading rapidly to rural areas, according to the CIDRAP Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. In the article in the newspaper New York Times Journalist Jeffrey Gettleman, head of this newspaper’s office in the capital New Delhi, also said that the infection and death from COVID-19 that broke out in big cities a few weeks ago is now spreading very quickly to rural areas. village. New Delhi recorded nearly 12,500 infections on May 11, less than half of the number recorded on April 30. Hospitals in New Delhi are now accepting patients again, after having to stop accepting them because of overcrowding last month, leaving infected people to die on the streets. Mumbai also recorded the same. The danger is that the number of infections in New Delhi and Mumbai will probably stop increasing and decrease gradually, but in many other places will increase. In other words, the situation of New Delhi a few weeks ago now extends to almost the entire country. Some of the worst-affected states are in the south, especially Karnataka. I cannot imagine what would happen in rural India. Expert RIJO M. JOHN worried about the prospect of the COVID-19 epidemic overflowing into the countryside How will it be? This fact raises a terrifying question: If New Delhi, a rich metropolis with dozens of hospitals, is unable to handle the current wave of high cases, what will happen once this wave spreads to the country? poor rural areas? The answer seems to be gradually becoming clear. On the evening of May 10, a leading hospital in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh ran out of medical oxygen. More than 60 critically ill patients wear breathing tubes but no oxygen. The doctors worked frantically, but 11 patients did not survive that night. In a distraught over the loss of a loved one, family members stormed into the hospital and smashed it. Doctors and nurses had to flee until the police arrived. It can be clearly seen that the hospital overload, lack of oxygen, medicine … very serious even in large urban areas will be more alarming in rural states, according to the radio. CNN . Chogath farming village in the western state of Gujarat has a population of 7,400, but there are 500-600 infections, the number of people who have not survived is very high because the whole village does not have a doctor. Nearby towns have several medical centers, but these small facilities have run out of beds and medical facilities. Dinesh Makwana drove his father, who was severely infected with COVID-19, through four medical centers in neighboring towns, but had to return home, because these centers had run out of beds. Usually about 30 people die in this village every year, but in the past month alone, villagers have had to cremate 90 bodies, according to Mr. Girjashankar. Many families have lost a lot of loved ones to COVID-19. Girjashankar, 70, still volunteered to go up the hill to cut firewood to help cremate the dead. Many southern states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu have made it clear that they will not share the medical oxygen they have with each other, having to keep it to serve hospitals that are overloaded because the number of patients is growing too fast in their states. Medical aid goods from other countries have started pouring into India since the end of April, but it is still not enough compared to the reality of the shortage in this country. Currently, in addition to urban areas suffering from severe epidemics, Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s government also spends some oxygen and medicine to urgently distribute to the states. However, with this little common ground, remote and isolated localities such as Chogath village (Gujarat state) still have to rely on their own strength.• Drop the body Ganges River because there is no money for cremation Newspaper Indian Express On May 10, Indians discovered more than 40 bodies washed up on the banks of the Ganges River near Bihar and Uttar Pradesh states in the north. Some news channels say that the number of bodies floating in the Ganges must be in the hundreds. In India, there is a custom that when a family member dies, the relatives will tie a stone to the body and drop it into the Ganges River – a sacred river for Hindus. However, many officials and locals believe that these bodies are those who died from COVID-19. Many bodies were partially burned and locals explained that the bodies were not cremated or cremated incompletely due to a severe shortage of firewood. Another reason families choose to drop their loved ones’ bodies in the river is because they can’t stand the cost of cremation, many health workers told the newspaper. New York Times . Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are two of India’s poorest states and are home to about 370 million people. Doctors warn people not to use cow dung on their bodies in the belief that it will help their immune systems deal with the virus or help them recover faster if they get sick. Hindus believe cows are a symbol of life and cow dung or cow urine is therapeutic. However, according to doctors, not only is there no scientific evidence that this can defeat COVID-19 but can also bring many other disease risks.

Dressed in blue protective gear and wearing a visor under a bright yellow turban, Jitender Singh Shunty sprayed disinfectant on bodies at the Seemapuri crematorium in northeastern Delhi. He had to act fast because bodies were delivered faster than cremation. The families and friends of those who have died, and those who are trying to find hospital beds and oxygen tanks to save their loved ones, are losing patience. “We are doing all we can to help families have a decent funeral for their loved ones,” he said as he rushed into another ambulance that had just arrived with two bodies. Since the beginning of April, when India suffered a second wave of the outbreak, Jitender Singh Shunty and his 20 volunteers were shocked by the large number of bodies brought in. “Last year we cremated 967 bodies, this month alone we cremated 670 bodies,” he said. Worldometers chart of the high number of infections in India as of May 10. About 20km from Seemapuri, New Delhi, dozens of people were gathering outside Waseem’s gas station. They all have the same question: When will the new oxygen tanks arrive? Waseem is committed to updating information on WhatsApp as soon as it is available. “People are dying from lack of oxygen so I thought I had to do something to help them,” Waseem said. “Someone told me that I would get sick if I kept going out and meeting so many people with Covid-19 relatives. I’m really scared, but if I don’t help them, I’ll be haunted for life.” Waseem added. Not alone As India is trying to find a way to deal with the pandemic, young men and women from all over the country do not hesitate to volunteer to contribute to the fight. They set up apps to solicit support and help, distribute key supplies, and use social media to direct resources to those in need. With two-thirds of its 1.3 billion population under the age of 35, India is a country dominated by young people, but young people have never been called upon to shoulder such enormous responsibilities. Photo: Times of India Swadha Prasad is working with dozens of volunteers – all between the ages of 14 and 19 – as part of the youth-led UNCUT organization, building an online database to gather information. about available medical resources across the country. This is 24/7, with teens constantly working over the phone to verify supplies, update information in real time, and take calls from patient relatives. “Some of us work from midnight to morning, because the calls don’t stop at 3 a.m.,” CNA quoted Prasad, a 17-year-old schoolgirl who worked 14 hours a day from noon the day before to 1 a.m. next morning. It was a long and tiring shift, but this Mumbai resident was still very enthusiastic. “If I could help save a life, I would never say No.” And many Covid-19 victims have been saved. Prasad cites an example where her team was able to deliver oxygen in the middle of the night, saving the life of a young patient desperately waiting for help. “It’s not just about providing resources… sometimes people want to know they’re not alone,” she said. The graph of Worldometers shows the correlation between the number of new infections (yellow) and the number of new recoveries (blue) in India as of April 30. Technology limitations However, in many small Indian towns and villages, technological limitations exacerbate the situation. Urgent requests for resources and spare hospital beds have spurred a large number of Twitter users. 25-year-old software engineer Umang Galaiya solved this problem by writing an app that makes it easy for users to find what they need, and directs their search to verified resources. But even so, his application cannot help many people living outside of big cities because the number of internet users is very small. “If I look for resources in Jamnagar, I get nothing on Twitter,” reflected the young man. And according to this male engineer, the pandemic cannot be controlled without the government. Simple measures still save many lives. For example, authorities could create an online bed registry, which updates automatically in real time, to save distressed patients from running back and forth knocking on the door of each treatment facility. According to the update of statistics page Worldometers, as of noon on May 12, India has recorded more than 23.3 million people infected with Covid-19 and about 254,200 deaths.

At the cremation site, where the fire was only temporarily extinguished late at night, loved ones had to wait for hours to say goodbye. The cremation scene was photographed, filmed, even broadcast live on social networks. These images will be sent to relatives in quarantine across India. They even appear on entire world news and newspapers, bringing India’s tragedy to a global audience. Fire ceremony participants must wear masks and protective gear. Photo: The New York Times. From the rooftops, local residents took pictures of the fire to show the world why they had to wear masks even indoors. Smoke and a strong smell of death, enveloping narrow alleys all day, even crept through closed windows, according to The New York Times. The cremation flame is a testament to the devastation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic on India. Exhausted from cremation The Covid-19 virus spread too quickly in India. The country continuously records more than 400,000 new cases every day. Nowhere in the country is beyond the devastating “tsunami”. Every day about 300 official deaths are recorded in New Delhi. However, this number is not believed to reflect the reality. “Before the pandemic, I received six to eight bodies a day,” said Jitender Singh Shunty, founder of a volunteer cremation organization Seemapuri, east of New Delhi. Now, every day I have to hold a cremation ceremony for about 100 bodies. Through his organization Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sewa Dal, Mr. Shunty has provided free or low-cost cremation services to the poor for 25 years. As demand skyrocketed, Mr. Shunty’s full-time workforce encountered numerous difficulties. They had to build dozens of new crematoriums in the adjacent field. Mr. Shunty’s cremation center received 100 bodies a day. Photo: The New York Times. Mr. Shunty’s daily job is to help move bodies and arrange the location of his cremation. During a pandemic, he had to change his protective shirt, mask and gloves dozens of times a day. At night, he slept in his car because his wife and two sons had Covid-19. Crematorial staff are receiving special care in the hospital. “Our team is about 16 people. We are working day and night, ”he said. “It is only 8 am, but I have received 22 phone calls to confirm the body.” According to Hindu tradition, cremation is a frequently used method. They believe that cremation disrupts the association of the soul with the physical body. The eldest son will lead the funeral delegation and relatives will carry the body onto the funeral pyre. A Hindu monk, also known as pandit, will recite his last prayers before the fire is lit. The ash of the deceased will be scattered in the Ganges or another sacred river. Mourners will gather at the deceased person’s home to commemorate and conduct prayer rituals. Families usually collect the ash immediately to avoid confusion. Unclaimed ashes, Mr. Shunty said, are held for up to two months, after which they are scattered into the Ganges River. Separate birth and death In addition, the pandemic also deprives the deceased’s final rites and deprives relatives of their private space. Traditionally, relatives will gather to share the pain of loss. Now, the fear of infection keeps most loved ones away. Even many bodies were cremated with no one nearby. “My family members can’t even see those last moments,” said Mittain Panani, a 46-year-old businessman. Mr. Panani and his brother are the only two people who directly attended their father’s cremation in Mumbai. His mother is still hospitalized with Covid-19. “Even if you have money, power, influence, you can’t do anything in that moment. I feel really powerless, ”he said sadly. Relatives brought the body of Covid-19 patient to the cremation area. Photo: The New York Times. “Flames were rising from the funeral pyre, relatives wearing masks and protective clothing. The scene is like the end of the world, ”said Dimple Kharbanda, a film producer who returned to New Delhi to attend the cremation ceremony of his late father. She had to beg relatives, including aunts in the neighboring state, not to come to Delhi because of the risk of infection. “When someone in India dies, we get together and talk about them, their lives, their habits and the good things. However, at this point, we can’t even do that, ”said Poonam Sikri, Ms. Kharbanda’s biological aunt. “When I watched his cremation (Miss Kharbanda’s father) on the phone, it felt like I had lost a part of my body. I want to stroke his hair, rub his face and hug him one last time. But I can’t do it ”. For the families of Covid-19 victims, the cremation site is the final stop of a series of difficult trials. It ended a series of days dragging patients from hospital to hospital in search of a bed and struggling in line for oxygen. Last stop Before Darwan Singh’s body was taken to Seemapuri, his family did everything they could to save the 56-year-old breadwinner. His fever did not go away while the oxygen level in his blood dropped to a dangerously low level of 42%. For two days, his family could not find a hospital bed or an oxygen tank. His nephew, Kuldeep Rawat, said he was given oxygen for an hour before the hospital supplies ran out. The family brought Mr. Singh home at night. The next day, they had to wait another five hours in the parking lot of another hospital. Mr. Rawat said the family had to pay a bribe of about $ 70 to get a free bed in a public hospital. Unfortunately, Mr. Singh died overnight. According to Hindu tradition, cremation is believed to break the connection of the soul with the physical body. Photo: New York Times. With the Seemapuri cremation center overloaded, the hospital was unable to immediately hand over the body. On April 25, his body and five other people were taken to the cremation site. Mr. Rawat said he had to get in an ambulance to confirm his uncle’s identity. The family then took him inside the crematorium and had to wait 5 hours before it was his turn to bring his uncle to the pyre. Even the last stop also cost them a relatively large amount: 25 USD for the prayer meeting, 34 USD for wood, 14 USD for the pandit priest and 5 USD for the protective suit. Mr. Singh’s family could not even come to the funeral. Both his mother, wife, daughter and son were infected with Covid-19. Mr. Rawat feared that he would also be infected during the period of sending his uncle to the emergency room. “They have a hard time understanding what’s going on.” For the families living around the crematorium, the fire that burns all night and day is a constant reminder of Covid-19’s death that awaits them. In the Sunlight Colony, where shabby houses and flats lie with Seemapuri, smoke is so much that many people are forced to wear masks while indoors. Children are rinsed with hot water before going to bed and laundry is dried in the room. People living near cremators must wear masks even when indoors. Photo: The New York Times. Waseem Qureishi, a resident right next to the Seemapuri crematorium, said: “My kitchen is upstairs but I really can’t stand it inside. If the wind is headed towards my house, the situation is even worse. Anuj Bhansal, an ambulance driver who lives near the Ghazipur crematorium, also in eastern New Delhi, says he is very worried about his four children. He said every time the cremated body number reached 100 people, children in the neighborhood would run up a nearby garbage hill to see. “When the children watched the fire and smoke coming from the cremation site, they asked why it did not go out,” Mr Bhansal said sadly. “They have a hard time understanding what’s going on.” The chaplain’s account of the funeral for 150 Covid-19 patients before cremation Every day, Hindu cleric RamKaran Mishra performs a funeral for about 150 people who have died from Covid-19 at the Ghazipur crematory facility east of New Delhi, India.

VOCs include corona virus variants that are more dangerous than the original strains, with a higher potential for infection and lethality. WHO previously classified B.1.617 as a “strain variable” (VOI), a level of danger lower than that of the VOC. Variant B.1.617 was first discovered in the Vidarbha region of the Indian state of Maharashtra last December. B.1.617 contains 2 mutations L452R and E484Q, or “double mutation”. According to WHO, variant B.1.617 is already present in more than 20 countries. Malaysian soldiers and security personnel at a blockade to block the entrance of the capital Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Bloomberg Malaysia blockade nationwide for 3 weeks Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on May 10 announced that the country would again apply a nationwide blockade within three weeks. According to Reuters, Prime Minister Yassin said the decision to blockade from May 12 to June 7 is necessary, as the number of new infections and the emergence of corona virus variants are putting pressure on. public health system. “Malaysia is facing a third wave of Covid-19 that is likely to cause a national crisis,” explained Mr. Yassin. “Data and science continue to show gathering practices, which make it difficult to maintain social disparity, and the presence of people in confined spaces as the main cause of social disparity. spread of Covid-19 “. Malaysia’s Ministry of Health said on May 10 that the country had 3,807 new cases of Covid-19 infection, bringing the total number of cases to 444,484. The number of Covid-19 deaths increased by 17 to a total of 1,700. The Malaysian government has also introduced the Movement Control Order (MCO), which prohibits all activities with crowds such as weddings or dining at restaurants, closes schools, limits 3 to 1. car (including driver) … The body of a suspected Covid-19 washed up on the banks of the Ganges River At least 40 bodies were washed ashore on the banks of the Ganges section between the two Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. “The incident happened at the Ganges section in Buxar district, near the state border of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. We instructed authorities to dispose of the bodies by burial or cremation,” said Ashok Kumar, local official. , said May 10. Buxar district media said, the number of bodies washed ashore could reach about 100. Many of these are decomposing and may have been in the river for many days. Some officials are concerned that these may be the remains of victims recently passed away from Covid-19. Locals believe that the bodies were dropped into the river because the cremation area was overloaded or relatives of the dead could not afford firewood. “This is what really shocked us,” said Kameshwar Pandey, a person who lives near the riverbank. According to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU), on May 10, India recorded more than 366,000 new cases and nearly 3,800 deaths. To date, the country has recorded a total of more than 22.6 million cases and more than 246,000 deaths by Covid-19. Taiwan isolating China Airlines pilots Tran Thoi Chung, head of the Taiwanese health agency (China), said on May 10 that all pilots of the island’s largest airline would be quarantined for 14 days to prevent spread of Covid-19. Chung said the only way he could stop what he believed was a cluster of infections at China Airlines was to isolate all of the airline’s returning and returning pilots, Chung said. “This will have a big impact on China Airlines, for its passenger, cargo and crew flights. But for the safety of the entire community, we can’t help but make a decision. This, “he announced. China Airlines did not comment on the decision, although it has repeatedly said it will work with authorities to end Covid-19 infection, and increase vaccination of its employees, including both the pilot. Vietnamese-English

Yet, in remote rural states, health resources are even scarcer. Some places don’t even have any medical resources to deplete. People can only fight the epidemic on their own and look to their fate. 90 people died in the past month, 3 times the average annual death toll. Dinesh Makwana took his father to four hospitals in nearby towns but could not find a single hospital bed. Photo: CNN. “No medical center, no doctors, no nurses” Chogath is a farming community in western Gujarat state, with about 7,400 inhabitants, according to the last census of 2011. Earlier this week, Mr. Jeetu said CNN that there are about 500 to 600 people with Covid-19 in the village. Residents here have also reported a spike in death toll. There are almost no doctors or medical facilities in the village. Meanwhile, the nearest city is more than an hour’s drive from the village. Some neighboring towns have clinics, but these facilities are very small and run out of beds and other essential medical supplies. The sudden spike in the number of illnesses and deaths in the whole village seemed to rest on Mr. Jeetu’s shoulder. An experienced pharmacist, he is in charge of prescribing medicine and supplying oxygen to the patients in the village. “No one, no medical center, no doctors, no nurses. There aren’t any facilities in this village. So I decided to deal with Covid-19 in a way that I see fit, ”he said. In Chogath, the lack of medical resources forced the desperate villagers to travel to the surrounding towns in the hope of finding a hospital bed. Dinesh Makwana, a resident of Chogath, said he tried to get his father with Covid-19 to four different hospitals in the surrounding towns but was hopeless. There are no more vacancies. With no other choice, he brought his seriously ill father to the village. “We are shocked (because of the 2nd Covi-19 wave). The whole village was very shocked, everyone was scared, ”he said. He said many people in the village died of Covid-19 and said: “I am very scared. I am worried that my father will lose “. Pharmacist Jeetu is the only source of medical assistance in Chogath village, Gujarat. Photo: CNN. Mr. Jeetu did his best to be able to provide some medicines to the villagers, including his father Makwana, to help stabilize the patient’s condition. However, the troubles that hit Makwana’s family do not stop there. His sister and mother are also infected. When Makwana talks to CNN, His mother was breathing hard on the porch. “I take care of my family. If I die, my wife and children will be crushed. I am not afraid of death, but only care for my wife, ”said Makwana’s father, Mr. Jivraj. 90 funerals a month Mr. Girjashankar, a resident of Chogath, despite being 70 years old, still helps families in the village to cremate their deceased loved ones. Day by day, he went to the forest or the field to cut wood, filled them with a tractor and then transported to the village, preparing to cremate the deceased. Normally, about 30 people die each year in the village. But within the past month, they cremated about 90 bodies, according to Mr. Girjashankar. Some families, he said, lost several people immediately because of the virus. Mr. Girjashankar, a cremation assistant, said that only a month ago, the village had 90 deaths, 3 times higher than the average annual death rate. Photo: CNN. The government tried to respond to the Covid-19 crisis in the country. They send oxygen supplies to various states and distribute aid from abroad. However, with the huge demand, the supplies do not seem to be distributed across the country. This means that the vast majority of health resources will go to the most densely affected and populous states. Therefore, small villages like Chogath have to survive this deadly epidemic on their own. “The village received no relief from the government. No doctors. There aren’t any government employees. The needed cannot come, and the person who needs to go (the hospital) cannot go ”, Mr. Girjashankar said. Pharmacist Jeetu said he was “very angry” because the people here are not being supported. “What can I do by myself,” he said. We don’t have any solutions, the people here are very poor ”. “All the people in the village are scared. 15, 20 days now, no one dares to step out of the house. Everyone is afraid, ”Makwana said. India uses the temple as a care center for patients Covid-19 Volunteers in the city of Ahmedabad, in western India, converted a temple into a Covid-19 patient care center, comprising a total of 50 beds.

Many states in southern India are warning to stop sharing medical oxygen with each other, protecting all that is available as their hospitals increasingly “swell” because of the increased number of COVID-19 cases. leap. At an Andhra Pradesh hospital, the family of COVID-19 patients went into a rage when the hospital treating their loved ones suddenly had their oxygen supply interrupted. These are the best evidences of the recurring tragedy in India itself. Despair that enveloped New Delhi – the capital of India, over the past few weeks has now spread across the country. Rural areas with poor health infrastructure are slowly feeling the devastation caused by the COVID-19 tsunami. According to the New York Times , it seems that the COVID-19 crisis in India is entering a new phase. Workers deliver oxygen tanks to a hospital in the states of Jammu and Kashmir. (Photo: AP) The number of COVID-19 cases in New Delhi and Mumbai is slowing down. But elsewhere are now really taking the COVID-19 blow. People questioned New Delhi, home to many of India’s top hospitals and packed with the country’s elite that can’t even handle the massive surge in cases, what will happen in the regions. poor countryside. On the night of May 10, a government hospital in Andhra Pradesh fell into a state of oxygen depletion. Doctors frantically call the providers to ask for help. But when the source could not be found, 11 patients died. The families of the patients, after learning of the news, entered the intensive care unit, screaming and smashing the equipment. TV images show the women holding their heads in despair. Doctors and nurses had to flee and wait for the police to arrive. Despite the aid of other countries, India still has a serious shortage of medical oxygen. More than 20 hospitals were depleted of oxygen, nearly 200 patients died from lack of oxygen. Vaccine campaign is being accelerated, but supply is not enough demand. Many vaccination sites in the states have run out of vaccines and people are still unable to schedule vaccinations. When the COVID-19 tsunami shows no signs of cooling down, the wave of criticism against Prime Minister Narendra Modi has intensified. Many people thought that he declared the victory of the epidemic too soon, causing the country to fall off guard. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) remains India’s most powerful political organization by far. But the solid wall the party has maintained over the years is showing some cracks. When the second wave of COVID-19s began to strike India, the country almost split into two extremes. New Delhi, Mumbai – the two largest cities in India warned that the number of new infections increased continuously with the infection rate up to 36%. In rural areas, the epidemic has also spread but has not yet strongly exploded, leaving many people leisurely. Currently, the situation in New Delhi and Mumbai is improving. On May 11, New Delhi reported 12,481 new infections, half the number of cases recorded on April 30. The positive rate for COVID-19 decreased to 19%. A mass cremation site on the banks of the Ganges River in Allahabad city, Uttar Pradesh. (Image: Getty Images) In Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, the incidence of infection decreased from 25% to 7%. People began to believe that the epidemic was about to end – something they didn’t dare to think about a few weeks ago. Last month, many hospitals in New Delhi were closed due to lack of oxygen. People are not allowed to be hospitalized to die right in front of the emergency room, in front of the hospital gate, or even on the street. When the situation was less stressful, these hospitals accepted the patients again. At the beginning of April, the infection rate in many rural India was only one digit. But now, this number is skyrocketing. “It’s hard to imagine what’s going on in the rural areas, where infection rates rose from 8% in early April to almost 27% on May 11. “, Professor Rijo M John went to the Indian Institute of Management in Kerala state. According to Mr. John, rural India does not carry out testing much and many patients may be dying because they do not receive treatment. On May 11, Modi’s government dispatched an “oxygen express train” to bring liquid oxygen to COVID-19 hotspots in the southern region. But states need more than that. A few weeks ago, several southern Indian states agreed to share oxygen supplies with each other. This week, some started mentioning ceasing to cooperate. The state government of Kerala says it cannot supply oxygen to neighboring states as it needs to retain the entire supply for the state’s growing demand. Tamil Nadu also made a similar statement, claiming he could not be shared with his poorer neighbor, Andhra Pradesh. Earlier this week in the village of Chausa, Bihar state, people panicked when they found dozens of bodies floating mysteriously on the banks of the Ganges River. No one knows who these people are or how their bodies got there. Even on the evening of May 10, images of decomposing bodies in colorful, bulging and floating bodies floating on the river shook the Indian media. Suspected bodies of COVID-19 have been washed ashore in the Ganges river in the past few days. (Photo: PTI) About 30 bodies have been found, most likely, of patients with COVID-19, officials say. Meanwhile local people said they saw about 100 bodies. “I’ve never seen so many bodies,” Arun Kumar Srivastava, a doctor in Chausa said. When the uneasiness of the villagers of Chausa had not passed, their neighbor witnessed the same scene. Villagers in Gahmar village, Uttar Pradesh state found more than 50 bodies of patients with COVID-19 washed up on the banks of the Ganges River as they passed their villages. Krishna Dutt Mishra, an ambulance driver in Chausa, said many poor people were throwing their loved ones into the river when the cremation price increased from $ 27 (more than 600,000 dong) to 200 dollars (more than 4.6 million dong). At many cremation sites, staff in some places charge five or even 10 times more than the usual price. For many families, this is too much for them.

In the remote Indian village of Chogath, Jeetu, a local pharmacist, has become the only source of medical assistance for people with Covid-19. The second wave of Covid-19 in India has devastated major cities and parts of this country. The hospitals have run out of oxygen and medicine. Jeetu, local pharmacist and volunteer doctor in Chogath village. Photo: CNN But in rural states and remote villages, the workforce of doctors and clinics is even scarcer. The people here have to fight the epidemic on their own without receiving any medical care. Chogath is a farming community in the western state of Gujarat. It is home to about 7,400 people, according to the 2011 census. Earlier this week, Mr. Jeetu said that there were about 500-600 cases of Covid-19 in Chogath village. Villagers also reported a sudden increase in the number of people dying from the disease. However, there were not any doctors or medical staff in the village. Meanwhile, the nearest city is more than an hour’s drive from the village. There are clinics in a number of neighboring towns, but these also run out of beds and other necessary medical equipment. As the number of illnesses and deaths in Chogath village spiked, Mr. Jeetu took on the role of a doctor. With his experience as a pharmacist, Mr. Jeetu prescribes medicine and supplies oxygen to the patients in the village. “No one is here, there is no medical center, no doctors, no nurses. There are no medical facilities in this village. So I settled in the way I saw fit, ”Mr. Jeetu said. India is facing a severe Covid-19 crisis that takes place everywhere, from the capital New Delhi to the smallest villages and towns. The second wave of Covid-19 has made millions of people in India sick in the past month and thousands dying every day. With more than 23 million cases of Covid-19, India is now the second most affected country in the world after the US epidemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. In Chogath, the lack of medical resources forced people to travel to surrounding towns in hopes of finding hospital beds. Dinesh Makwana, a resident of the village of Chogath, said he tried to put his father with Covid-19 into four different hospitals in the neighboring towns, but there were no vacancies. He had no choice but to bring his father, who had been diagnosed with a serious illness, back home. “All villagers are afraid” “We were shocked by the second wave of Covid-19. The whole village was very shocked, everyone was scared, ”Mr. Makwana said. Makwana says that many people in the village died from Covid-19. “I am very scared. I worry my father will die, ”he said. Makwana tried to send her father with Covid-19 to four different hospitals in the neighboring towns, but all had no vacancies. Photo: CNN Jeetu has provided some medicine to help stabilize Makwana’s father. However, the Makwana family’s troubles are not over as his sister and mother are also sick. “I am very worried about my family. If I die my family will be broken. I’m not afraid of death, I’m just worried about my wife, ”said Makwana’s father, Jivraj. Girjashankar, 70, a resident of Chogath, helped families in the village cremate deceased loved ones. He cut wood from the forests and loaded it on tractors and drove it back to the village, preparing for cremation for the deceased. Mr. Girjashankar said that each year about 30 people in Chogath village died, but only in the past month they cremated 90 bodies. The Indian government attempted to cope with the Covid-19 crisis by sending oxygen supplies to various states and distributing aid from abroad. However, the scarcity of medical supplies means most aid will go to the most populous and most affected states. Therefore, small villages like Chogath have to fight the pandemic on their own. “We don’t have doctors. We have no way to get to the bigger hospitals, ”said Girjashankar. Jeetu said he was “very angry” at the fact that people here do not receive medical care and lack of help from the authorities. “What can I do by myself? We don’t have a solution, the people here are very poor, ”said Mr. Jeetu. The villagers of Chogath had no choice but to wait for help. “All the people in the village are scared. It has been 15-20 days no one left the house. Everyone feels scared, ”Makwana said.

Jeetu, local pharmacist and volunteer doctor in Chogath village, Gujarat state, on May 9. Photo: CNN According to CNN (USA), India’s second COVID-19 wave has devastated major cities and urban centers, depleting hospitals of oxygen and medicine. Meanwhile, in rural areas and remote villages, doctors and clinics are even rarer, leaving residents fighting for their own lives without care. Chogath Village is a rural community in the western state of Gujarat, home to about 7,400 residents, according to the latest census in 2011. Earlier this week, pharmacist Jeetu said there were between 500 and 600 schools. with COVID-19, while deaths also spiked. However, there are no doctors or medical facilities in the nearest village and city more than an hour away. There are medical stations in a number of neighboring towns, but these small facilities also have no longer beds and essential supplies. Amid a spike in morbidity and mortality, Mr. Jeetu was forced to take on the role of a volunteer doctor, using his experience as a pharmacist to provide oxygen and prescribe medicine to the people. . “No one here, no medical center, no doctors, no nurses,” he said. “There are no medical facilities in this village. So I have to deal with the situation in the way I find the best fit.” Dinesh Makwana and his father, Mr. Jivraj, from Chogath village in Gujarat state, India, May 9. Photo: CNN India is coping with an ongoing health crisis everywhere from the capital New Delhi to the smallest villages and towns. The second wave of COVID-19 epidemic has infected millions of people across the country over the past month, with thousands dying every day. As of May 12, India has recorded over 23.3 million cases since the outbreak of the pandemic, being the second most severely affected country in the world, behind only the US, according to University data. Johns Hopkins. In Chogath, the lack of medical assistance forced the desperate villagers to travel to the surrounding towns in the hope of finding a hospital bed. Dinesh Makwana, from Chogath village, said he tried to send his father with COVID-19 to four different hospitals in neighboring towns in the state of Gujarat, but all had no vacancies. With no other choice, Makwana had to bring his father, who had been diagnosed with a serious illness, back to the village. “We were shocked by the second wave. The whole village was shocked, everyone was scared,” Makwana said. “I know many people in the village who died from COVID-19. I thought that my father wouldn’t make it either.” A volunteer cremates people in Chogath village, Gujarat, on May 9. Photo: CNN Pharmacist Jeetu, affectionately known by the villagers as “Jeetu”, gave Makwana’s father some medicine to help stabilize his health. Makwana’s sister and mother are also infected with the SARS-CoV2 virus. Located on the veranda of the house, Makwana’s mother gasped, next to a picture of Hindu gods hanging high on the wall. “I worry about my family,” said Mr. Jivraj, Makwana’s father. “If I die, my family doesn’t know how I will live. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m worried about my wife.” Mr. Girjashankar, 70, helped the villagers cremate the bodies. He filled the tractors with wood and brought them into the village to make a funeral pyre. The village usually records only about 30 people dead each year but over the past month they have cremated 90 bodies. Some families have lost many members because of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. A man was vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccine in Guwahati, India on May 8. Photo: CNN Some experts and government committee members think the second wave of infections may be nearing a peak, meaning that daily new infections will soon drop. However, high mortality is predicted to persist throughout the month. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has worked to respond to this crisis by sending oxygen sources to many states and distributing medical supplies from abroad. But supply shortages mean most of the support will be shipped to the most densely populated cities with the highest number of infections, leaving villages like Chogath on their own when SARS-CoV-2 virus. attack of households. “The village doesn’t get government support, there are no doctors, there is no way to go to major hospitals,” said Girjashankar. “No one is looking at this place, there are no government employees to support us.” Jeetu said he was “very angry” because the village lacked help from the authorities. “But what can we do?” He said. “We don’t have a solution, the people here are very poor.” Meanwhile, the villagers have no choice but to wait for help and pray they will recover. “All the villagers are scared. For the past 15 to 20 days, no one comes out of the house. Everyone was very worried,” Makwana said.

Victim Mary Reeser and the scene of the body burned to ash, leaving only a portion of the leg left. Photo: ATI On July 2, 1951, Pansy Carpenter, Mary Reeser’s landlord, stopped by the tenant’s apartment to send a telegram. When Pansy knocked on the door, no one answered. She put her hand on the doorknob and felt unusually hot, so she called the police. Police immediately went to the apartment at 1,200 Cherry Street (St. Petersburg town, Florida, USA) when he discovered that Marry Reeser, 67 years old, had died in a mysterious fire. Reports say the victim’s body was burned to ashes by a “white” flame – a color displaying temperatures between 1,300-1,500 degrees Celsius, equivalent to that in a crematorium. The victim’s body was almost completely ashes, leaving only one leg left, with the sandals intact, and no trace of carbon black. A part of Reeser’s spine and skull were also found at the scene. Although the apartment was still very warm and smoky when the police arrived, most of the furniture was still intact. Only plastic objects placed near the chair of Mrs. Reeser were melted and deformed. The carpet had a scorch mark. Most of the chair where the victim was sitting burned, but the wall behind that was not cracked or scorched. The rest of the room seemed unaffected by the fire that burned Mary Reeser. The sheets nearby are also not burnt, damaged, or even dirty. The scene of a mysterious fire in the apartment of Mary Reeser. Photo: ATI It takes about 1,600 degrees Celsius to heat for 3 or 4 hours to cremate a body. Therefore, the incident has made the authorities confused. Due to the mysterious circumstances of the case, it is suspected that Mrs. Reeser was a victim of spontaneous human combustion. It is when a person ignites their own flame from a chemical reaction inside their body, without any apparent ignition from the outside heat source. Although there have been documents about the human body igniting itself as early as 1663, not all scientists are convinced by it. Sheriff Cass Burgess was the detective investigating the Reeser case at the time. “This fire is too strange a thing,” he told reporters. Apartment diagram where the “ashen woman” case took place. The fire location is close to the kitchen, opposite the bed is still intact. Photo: thedeadhistory On 7/7/1951, Burgess and his team sent the evidence box from the victim’s apartment to the FBI laboratory (in Washington DC) for chemical analysis. Some of the evidence included ash, shoes, part of the carpet, mortar from the walls, pieces of fibers suspected from the victim’s nightgown, fragments of bone, and remains of the chair Reeser sat on when she died Fire…. The public is also very attentive to the case. Investigator Ed Silk said at least 15 amateur detectives called him to come up with their theories. The detective team released a statement saying it was a “accidental death from unexplained fire”. That doesn’t mean they are concluding the investigation, but just to help organize the burial of the victim, Burgess explained. Meanwhile, the FBI determined that Mary Reeser’s death was not caused by self-ignition. However, the incident is still a mystery. The FBI believes that Mary Reeser’s own body fat that fueled the fire that burned her could have come from smoking a cigarette and falling asleep. Ms. Reeser was set ablaze and “as soon as the body caught fire, almost complete destruction occurred from the victim’s own adipose tissue”. It is true that human adipose tissue is very flammable, and even easier in fat people. And Reeser is a huge woman, weighing 77kg. Investigators examine the crime scene. Photo: ATI The FBI’s explanation also has some basis, but it provides only partial explanation, as there are still some anomalies. For example, a stack of newspapers lined up next to the victim’s chair is still intact, not even scorched. Dr. Wilton M. Krogman, a professor of physical anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, an experienced fire researcher, disagrees with the FBI’s conclusions. Mr. Krogman has written about all five deaths he investigated in the past. “I cannot imagine such a complete cremation without burning the apartment at all,” the professor wondered. Some other explanations are given one after another, such as lightning, explosives … However, that night there was no lightning at St. Petersburg. The test sample of the evidence from the scene also showed no signs of any gasoline or flammable substance. After an investigation went nowhere, the police finally concluded the cause was “a forgotten cigarette”. However, the question from here is, will someone die from being unable to wake up even while on fire? If Mrs. Reeser was awake, why couldn’t the housekeeper Pansy hear the screams? Finally, after exactly 70 years, the death of the “ashen woman” remains a mystery that challenges investigators.

For many consecutive days, the world media has been flooded with heartbreaking information and images from today’s most devastating pandemic hotspot. Many patients in India die while waiting for their beds, oxygen supplies depleted in hospitals leading to tragic deaths beyond imagination. “India experienced its worst day because of Covid-19” became the headline used by many newspapers day in and day out. Photo: Reuters. After surpassing the US daily record for the first time on April 22, with 315,000 new cases, India has continuously set new records in the past few days. Photo: Reuters. India is suffering from the darkest chapter of the pandemic. Bodies were piled up in crematoria. Many cremation facilities operate non-stop, staff here say they get almost no rest. Photo: Reuters. In Hinduism, cremation is traditionally the most important part of funeral rites as these religious believers believe that the body must be cremated in order for the soul to transcend. Photo: Reuters. On April 29, the country recorded 379,257 new cases of Covid-19 and 3,645 people died from the pandemic. To date, the number of Covid-19 cases in India has reached 18.38 million, of which 204,832 died, according to the Ministry of Health of India. In the capital New Delhi, 27 temporary crematoriums were built at the Sarai Kale Khan crematorium. Dozens of other rigs are being added in a nearby park. Officials are also looking for more space near the city’s Yamuna River, according to the Guardian. Trees in the park were cut down to make a pyre. Photo: Reuters. Experts fear the actual number of cases in India could be up to 30 times higher, which is more than half a billion cases, according to CNN. The country’s daily death toll is expected to continue to rise through mid-May, according to predictive models from the University of Washington Medical Metrology and Evaluation Institute in the United States. The death toll could reach more than 13,000 a day, more than four times the current daily death toll, according to projections. Photo: Reuters. Jitender Singh Shanty is doing more than 100 cremations a day at a crematory in east New Delhi. “If more bodies are received, we will cremate the streets. There are no more vacancies here, ”said Shanty. Photo: Reuters. An employee in protective clothing is digging a grave to bury the victim of Covid-19’s death in Gauhati, India. Photo: AP. In city cemeteries such as New Delhi, which records the highest number of illnesses each day, ambulances line up waiting for the body to be cremated. The burial place was slowly shrinking in the cities, the flames burning through the night. Photo: Getty. India’s “fall” is believed to have stemmed from many causes such as lack of preparation, neglect of epidemic prevention, lack of medical equipment, and a rapidly spreading new strain. Photo: Reuters. “No New Delhi has ever seen such a scene. The bodies of 5-year-old children, 15-year-olds, and 25-year-old youth were burned. Even newlyweds are the same. It’s heartbreaking, ”Jitender Singh Shunty, a nonprofit medical provider, told Reuters. In the photo is a mass cremation of the victims of Covid-19 death that took place at a site in New Delhi, India on April 22. Photo: Reuters. Crowds of people also play a huge role in the spread of the virus in India. Blockade and quarantine restrictions are believed to have been lifted too soon in the world’s second most populous country. Residents are allowed to organize major parades. Hindu festivals attract tens of millions of pilgrims. These people often gather in cramped locations without protection. Pictured is the scene of Indians dancing during the Holi Spring Festival in Prayagraj city, Uttar Pradesh state on March 29. Photo: AP. Millions of voters still vote in the final stages of elections in West Bengal state, despite the record-rising deaths and infections caused by Covid-19. In the photo is the scene of people waiting in line to vote at the polls on April 29. Photo: AFP. Countries have already begun to take measures to help India. The White House on April 28 said it would provide $ 100 million in aid to India, including 1,000 medical oxygen cylinders, 15 million N95 masks and one million Covid-19 rapid test kits. The US is lifting a ban on sending raw materials abroad, enabling India to produce more AstraZeneca vaccines. Photo: AP. The 105-year-old man ‘defeated’ Covid-19 in India Dhenu Umaji Chavan (105) and his wife (95) contracted Covid-19 in March. Both were discharged earlier this month after being treated at a hospital in Maharashtra state.

The body of the patient Covid-19 is piled up in a crematory in New Delhi, where every four minutes, someone dies from a pandemic. Someone brought the body and left it. At the Ghazipur village crematory in eastern New Delhi, bodies were brought, one after the other. The amount of bodies was so great that ambulances and trucks transporting the dead blocked an entire road, Guardian described on April 30. Before the pandemic happened, in Ghazipur crematory staff’s memory, there was only one time that it was filled with space in a day. But now, sometime early in the morning, this place has received 150 bodies, while the maximum capacity is 38 bodies. Crematorial staff have to expand the scope of operations to parking lots but also cannot meet all demand. In the Indian capital, the second wave of Covid-19 infections is still raging with no sign of slowing down. On April 30, Delhi recorded a record number of 395 deaths and 24,235 new infections. Across India, the total number of new infections during the day was unprecedentedly high with 386,693 cases. Someone brought the body and left it Cremators in India are rushing to increase their capacity to handle 1,000 cremations a day. It is at these cremations that the destruction of Covid-19 in Delhi is being most evident. In 30 years of helping cremate the dead, Sunil Kumar Sharma, head of the Ghazipur village crematorium, said she had never thought of such a scene. “Too many people died. I have a feeling if this situation continues, there will be no one in Delhi, ”Sharma said. Normally, the body of a Covid-19 patient must be handled according to a rigorous procedure. But according to Sharma, corpses from hospitals are often not covered with protective cloths, putting cremators at risk of exposure. Some families even try to hide the death of a loved one from Covid-19. “The situation here is terrible and terrible,” said Mr. Sharma. “We have to work 20 hours a day, very tiring. My spirit seemed to have broken at the surroundings. Now there are people who bring the body and leave it, so we have to perform the ceremony to save some face for the deceased. According to the Hindu and Sikh beliefs of the Indians, a person cannot enter the door of heaven if their body is cremated without the watcher’s presence and keeping the fire on the pyre. Every day, Sharma’s crematorium consumes 60 tons of wood. “Every night, I worry about how to dispose of the body delivered tomorrow,” Mr. Sharma said. “What if it is beyond our capabilities?”. Suffering covers everywhere With thousands of recently cremated bodies, the air around Ghazipur crematorium was thick black smoke. Scattered around the ash-gray crematoriums left the day before were some offerings: mangoes, pomegranates, and orange flowers. On a nearby ambulance, a woman in a dark green sari was mumbling her prayers. In the car with her was the body of her husband, who had just died that morning because of Covid-19. The widow tried to place a red handshake on her husband’s body but was gently pushed away by a man in a protective suit to transport the body. The air around Ghazipur crematorium was thick black smoke from thousands of recent cremations. Photo: Shutterstock. Another man, Ajay Gupta, cried bitterly while the body of his brother, Ram, was placed on the crematorium. Just last week, Ram received treatment from the hospital for breathing problems. Ram’s illness had been in remission at first. I can even video call you from the hospital bed. But when the hospital ran out of oxygen, Ram did not survive. “Just a few days ago the nurse told us he would be fine,” Gupta said. Gupta is also a victim of the emerging black market in Delhi. It sells oxygen and drugs like Remdesivir to desperate families like Gupta at exorbitant prices. According to Gupta, after listening to the doctor, he used the last coin to buy Remdesivir for his brother at the black market for 630,000 rupees (about 8,500 USD), 10 times higher than normal. However, the effectiveness of Remdesivir Covid-19 is still questionable. “I felt like everything had collapsed,” Gupta said. Relatives wearing medical protective clothing deliver the body of a patient recently lost from Covid-19 in the crematory village of Ghazipur, east of Delhi. Photo: Shutterstock. Krishnan Pal, 48, who sells snacks in Delhi, is also one of those who died after repeatedly being rejected by the hospital due to overload. Pal cousin Kai Charan Kashap said they knocked on the doors of every hospital in Delhi but were unable to find an empty bed. After that, Pal was transported by his family to Agra, a city in the adjacent state of Uttar Pradesh. The hospital here still has empty beds but there is no oxygen left. In the end, Pal died on his way to Bareilly, a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh. “People are dying in the middle of the street because they can’t breathe,” said Kashap in a choked sob while waiting for his brother’s body to be transported from the morgue. Vaccine is seen as the way out of the crisis Many believe that the vaccine is the only long-term way to help India get out of the corona virus crisis. But on April 30, authorities in some parts of Delhi said plans to vaccinate people aged 18 and over had been delayed indefinitely due to lack of supply. The announcement comes just a day before the expanded immunization program is scheduled to be rolled out in Indian courts. Shortages such as in the capital Delhi are also common across this South Asian country. An immunization center in Mumbai posted “no vaccinations for the next three days” on April 30. Photo: Reuters. Delhi Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal said authorities would inject the vaccine “as soon as possible”. But some private clinics in Delhi said the vaccine is not expected to arrive for at least another month or even two. During that time, the crematory and cemetery in Delhi will continue to suffer the deadly pressure that engulfs the city every day. At the Ghazipur crematory, after sunset, all crematoriums will be lit up at the same time. Flames flared in the screams of heat and pain. Tomb diggers work non-stop in India Tomb diggers work 24 hours a day to bury those who have died from Covid-19. Their shift did not stop amid the second wave of Covid-19 in India.

Last week, India’s Health Minister Harsh Vardhan affirmed that the Covid-19 death rate in this country is “at the lowest in the world”. The statement of the head of the medical industry is in stark contrast to the series of shocking images and stories of cremations burned day and night due to overloaded bodies, patients dying on the road due to lack of breathing. gas, according Guardian . Question of concealing data of the dead? Official records of the Indian authorities show that the number of people infected and fatal has increased continuously. On May 1, the South Asian country experienced another record-breaking day with 401,993 new cases and 3,523 deaths from Covid-19. But health experts have the same view that the official number does not fully reflect the size of the number of deaths caused by Covid-19 in India. At this time, because medical facilities are overloaded and lack medical supplies, many patients cannot be hospitalized and die at home, even without adequate testing. Meanwhile, the local authorities were accused of not making accurate statistics, even hiding the actual death toll in the area where they were responsible. Relatives stand by when the dead body is cremated. Photo: Reuters. In the past month, in the city of Karnataka, Bangalore – where the number of infections has been among the fastest growing in the country – the number of corpses registered for cremation with Covid-19 is twice as high as the number of deaths recorded by the authorities. The information concealment charge is particularly notable in Uttar Pradesh, where the state government is governed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata (BJP) party. Adityanath, governor of Uttar Pradesh, insisted that the state had no shortage of oxygen, and threatened to prosecute anyone who spread panic information. Authorities Uttar Pradesh denied allegations of information hiding. The truss burned day and night In the Muzaffarnagar city of Uttar Pradesh state, data are available from the weekly newspaper Observer The collection revealed the discrepancy between the local authorities’ death statistics and the number of bodies cremated at city cremation facilities and cemeteries. Official data recorded only 10 deaths from Covid-19 in the last four days of April. But according to Ajay Kumar Agarwal, owner of a city cremation facility, that is only an odd number compared to the bodies burned. burned at this facility every day. “Normally we cremate 3 bodies per day. But in the past 10 days, the number of cremated bodies has increased many times. There are days 18, some days 20, then 22 and 25. In the past 10 days, not yet.” we have less than 12 bodies every day, 90% of which are corona deaths, “said Agarwal. Mr. Agarwal’s cremation facility only had seven crematoriums, so the staff had to cremate the body on the ground. Some of the bodies were sent to another facility 35 kilometers from the city. The pyre burned day and night in India. Photo: Reuters. Mr. Agarwal accused local authorities of publishing “inaccurate” data, denying the possibility that the city has experienced no days, or that only one or two people died of Covid-19 in the past week. . “The authorities have not released the exact death figures. I don’t understand why they are hiding it. Maybe they don’t want people to panic,” Agarwal said. Similar comments were made by Sanjay Mittal, an employee at another cremation facility in Muzaffarnagar. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. We set the crematorium on fire from dawn to dusk,” Mittal said. Before the pandemic, Mittal’s cremation facility handled about 5 bodies a day. But on April 27, they received 21 bodies. On April 28, the number of bodies decreased to 15, before once again increasing to 19 on April 29. “It is noon now, and we have already got 12 bodies. I don’t know how much more will it be by the end of the day,” Mittal said on April 30. The number of bodies taken for burial has also increased sharply in the Muslim cemetery in Muzaffarnagar. “Before the corona virus, we buried 2-3 bodies a week, but now it is 6-7 bodies a day. Only three of them come from the hospital, the rest are either dead at home or not tested,” Mr. Abdul Quadir, curator, said. Government data show that Muzaffarnagar has a very low rate of testing. On April 27, the whole city did not conduct tests. On April 29, only 561 people were tested, all positive for corona virus. The actual number of deaths could be 3 times higher An unnamed doctor from the Medical Association in Uttar Pradesh state said that many people die from pneumonia, pulmonary fibrosis – typical symptoms of severe form Covid-19. “We have to accept that the death toll from corona virus is much higher than the official statistics. The bodies we see at the crematorium are mostly self-medicating at home, and they die.” The number of deaths like this is very high, but most of them have not been recorded. The rate of testing here is much lower than the need, “the doctor said. Murad Banaji, the mathematician who modeled the plague in India, said the numerous streams of evidence suggest that the understatement of deaths from disease is a serious problem. This expert believes that the number of deaths in India is at least 3 times higher than the official statistics. The conclusion is based on calculations from major cities like Mumbai, where during the first outbreak of the epidemic he calculated the number of “excess deaths” compared to the annual number of deaths. Mass cremation area in New Delhi. Photo: Reuters. This calculation could put the number of Covid-19 deaths in Mumbai from 13,000 to about 21,000. Banaji stressed that in less developed rural areas, such as in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, with limited medical facilities, Covid-19 deaths are not recorded “perhaps much larger than in cities like Mumbai “. The consequences of inaccurate statistics on the number of deaths can be very serious. It will affect the effective allocation of resources, limiting the ability to develop a suitable immunization strategy to help prevent future outbreaks. “If we don’t have data to understand what’s going on in the current pandemic, how can India prepare for the future?” Mr. Banaji said. The chaplain’s account of the funeral for 150 Covid-19 patients before cremation Every day, Hindu cleric RamKaran Mishra performs a funeral for about 150 people who have died from Covid-19 at the Ghazipur crematory facility east of New Delhi, India.

According to Twitter’s disclosure on the Lumen database – a Harvard University project (USA), the Indian government has issued an urgent order to censor posts on the platform. The COVID-19 epidemic in India is complicated. Photo: REUTERS Twitter rejected several posts following a legal request from the Indian government, a Twitter spokesperson told Reuters on April 24. In the legal request that the Indian government made on April 23 and was disclosed on Lumen, the Indian government side mentioned 21 posts. Among them were posts from a legislator named Revnath Reddy, a minister in West Bengal state named Moloy Ghatak and a filmmaker named Avinash Das. The Indian government has cited the Information Technology Act of 2000 in its request for censorship on Twitter. “When we receive a valid legal request, we will review it according to both Twitter’s rules and local law,” said a spokesperson for Twitter. “If the content violates Twitter’s rules, it will be removed from the service. If determined to be illegal in a certain jurisdiction, but not in violation of Twitter’s rules, We can only keep access to content in India “- the spokesperson said. The spokesperson confirmed that Twitter had directly notified the account holders of the retention of their content, and announced that the company had received a legitimate request regarding their posts. Such requests for content censorship were previously reported by tech news site TechCrunch, which states that Twitter is not the only platform affected by the order. India is experiencing an unprecedented wave of COVID-19 infections when in the Delhi metropolitan area alone, an average of one person dies of COVID-19 every less than four minutes. On April 24, the number of COVID-19 deaths across India increased by 2,624, to more than 189,500. Cremators across India buckled as the number of COVID-19 deaths soared. The flames from the cremation point, along with the stifling heat inherent, have made the atmosphere in India more uncomfortable and sad. The number of deaths increased rapidly leading to a shortage of firewood and wood used in cremation. Many families have to wait for hours for the turn to cremate a loved one. The rare number of electric burial furnaces is also overloaded.

A continuous red-fire manual cremation in India. Photo: Reuters For the fourth day in a row, on April 25, India set a global record for the number of new infections, stemming from a new virus variant sweeping, overwhelming every effort by the populous nation. world number 2. According to AP, the report of the Indian Ministry of Health on April 25 recorded 349,691 new cases, bringing the total number of cases in this country to over 16.9 million cases, the second most in the world after the US. In addition, there were 2,767 deaths in the past 24 hours, pushing the number of COVID-19 deaths in India to 192,311. Experts say that the actual death toll could be much greater, since it does not include suspected cases, and many deaths from COVID-19 are attributed to underlying medical conditions. . The Indian crisis is most evident in cemeteries, cremations and cremations, or in heartbreaking images of a series of suffocating patients on their way to a hospital due to lack of oxygen. India set a world record for the fourth consecutive day with the number of new infections reaching nearly 350,000 people. Photo: Reuters Cremation sites in the Indian capital New Delhi are running out of space and fiery cremation rigs lit up all night in other heavily affected cities. In the city center of Bhopal, a number of cremators have increased their capacity from a few dozen bodies to over 50 a day. However, bodies awaiting cremation still have to wait. At the city’s Bhadbhada Vishram Ghat crematorium, workers said they cremated more than 110 people on April 24, although figures from the city government of 1.8 million people only report the total number of deaths. because COVID-19 that day was 10 people. Mamtesh Sharma, a location official, said: “The virus is devouring the people of our city like a monster.” Watch the video of the painful scene of disinfection and cremation of the body of the COVID-19 victim in India (Source: Sky news) The massive influx of bodies has forced cremators to skip all the personal rituals and rituals that Hindus believe will help liberate souls. “We burned the bodies as soon as we arrived,” said Mr. Sharma. It was as if we were in the middle of a war. A monk rushed out of the cremation area of ​​COVID-19’s body after the ceremony. Photo: Getty Images Cremation of the body of COVID-19 victim with firewood in New Delhi on April 24. Photo: Reuters A grave digger at the largest Muslim cemetery in New Delhi, where 1,000 people have been buried during the pandemic, said more bodies are now being moved than last year and that the site will soon run out of space. The situation is equally dire at hospitals that are already packed with patients. People desperately wait in line to die, sometimes they stop breathing in the outer streets while waiting to see a doctor. Indian health officials are currently looking to expand intensive care areas and increase oxygen supplies. Patient COVID-19 was taken to a hospital in New Delhi. Photo: AFP A manual cremation ground for victims of COVID-19 in New Delhi. Photo: Getty Images Hospitals and patient families themselves struggle to procure the scarce medical equipment that is being sold at exponentially increasing prices. The crisis contradicted the government’s statement that “no one in the country will be left without oxygen,” in an April 24 statement by Indian Attorney General Tushar Mehta before the Supreme Court of Delhi. The crisis of the new COVID-19 wave is a huge failure for a country that only in January, Prime Minister Modi declared victory over the epidemic and is proud to be the “pharmacy of the world” – home global vaccine production, which is a model for other developing countries. Off guard against the spike in infections, the federal government has asked industrialists to increase production of oxygen and other drugs that are in short supply. However, health experts say India has a whole year to prepare, but they have not. People wait in line to pump more oxygen into the tank, to save patient COVID-19. Photo: DailyMail Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases at the Medical University of South Carolina (USA), said the Indian government had “reacted very passively to this situation instead of actively”. Ms. Kuppalli said that the government should be using 2020, when the virus is better controlled, to prepare plans to tackle in the event of an outbreak, while at the same time “stockpiling drugs and developing relationships. Public-private partnerships to support the production of essential resources in the event of such a situation ”. “Most importantly, they should look at what’s going on in other parts of the world and understand that the possibility of India in a similar situation is only a matter of time,” said Ms. Kuppalli. Associate Professor Kuppalli called the Indian government’s early statements on pandemic victory a “mistake”, as it encouraged people to relax prevention measures when they should have continued to adhere to it. strict spacing, wear masks and avoid crowds. People waiting to be vaccinated against COVID in Mumbai, India Photo: AP Containers of oxygen were transported on board, delivered to India. Photo: Reuters Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing criticism for allowing Hindu festivals and massive election rallies, which experts suspect has contributed to the speed of the spread. of the virus. In such an election rally just two weeks ago, Modi could barely hide his joy when declaring to supporters in the state of West Bengal: “I have never seen such a large crowd.” . At that time, SARS-CoV-2 had begun to strike again and experts warned that a fatal increase was inevitable. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on April 25 that the US was “deeply concerned” about a serious COVID-19 outbreak in India. “We are working around the clock to deploy more supplies and support to our friends and partners in India as they bravely fight this pandemic,” said Mr. Sullivan on Twitter. Neighboring Pakistan also expressed support for people in India. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said it offered to provide relief assistance including breathing apparatus, oxygen supply unit, digital X-ray machine, personal protective equipment (PPE) and related items.

The relative of a Covid-19 patient died in a collapse in a graveyard in Jammu, India. Photo: AP Pictures spread dizzying on social networks and television showed relatives of patients desperately asking for oxygen outside hospitals, or crying on the streets because a loved one with Covid-19 died while waiting. treated. ABC News cites a woman who fell in love with her brother’s death at the age of 50 after being rejected by two hospitals and died of oxygen without a replacement vessel. The woman mourns the death of a member of her family from Covid-19 outside a crematory in New Delhi. Photo: Reuters India has just set a global record for the fifth consecutive day of new infections, mainly due to a new variant of SARS ‑ CoV ‑ 2. The shock wave denied any early claims about the pandemic victory that the officials of this country had made. According to Worldometers website, the number of corona virus infections in India in the past 24 hours was 354,531 people, bringing the total number of cases nationwide to more than 17.3 million. The number of deaths due to the epidemic rose to 195,116, an increase of 2,806 from a day earlier. The number of deaths can be very large, as the above statistics do not include suspected fatal cases. Medical staff taking care of a Covid-19 patient in Virar, near Mumbai. Photo: AP The current health crisis in India is most evident in overcrowded graveyards and crematoria, and in images of patients dying on the road from lack of oxygen. Burial sites in the capital New Delhi are full. The crematoriums in many cities burned nonstop day and night. In the central city of Bhopal, some crematoriums have to increase their capacity, but the list of corpses waiting for is growing longer. At the Bhadbhada Vishram Ghat crematory in a city of 1.8 million people, workers said they cremated more than 110 people on April 24. A Covid-19 patient cremation ground in New Delhi. Photo: AP “The virus is devouring the people of our city like a monster” – ABC News quoted an official named Mamtesh Sharma with sorrow. The influx of bodies brought in has caused cremators to bypass procedures and rituals for Hindu devotees. “We just cremated the bodies, as if we were in a war,” said Mr. Sharma. And in New Delhi’s largest Muslim cemetery, the body was so overfilled that the curator’s manager, Mohammad Shameem, was concerned that “we would run out of burial sites soon.” A Covid-19 patient cremation ground in New Delhi. Photo: AP The situation in hospitals was no less grim. The patients were so desperate to wait for treatment that they were lying on the street, looking forward to seeing a doctor. Indian health officials are trying to expand emergency spots and provide more oxygen but supplies are running out, while they are struggling to buy already scarce medical equipment. What’s happening in India right now is a huge setback for a country, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi just declared a pandemic victory in January, and is proud to be “the pharmacy of the world.” world “, the global producer of the vaccine, and is seen as a model for other developing countries in the prevention of Covid-19. People wait for the Covid-19 vaccine in Mumbai. Photo: AP Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, assistant professor of medicine in infectious diseases at the Medical University of South Carolina, said the Indian government should have used the past year, when the disease was well controlled, to store medicine and developing systems to cope with the risk of a new pandemic. “Most importantly they should observe what is going on in many other parts of the world and understand that it is only a matter of time before they fall into a similar situation,” Kuppalli said. Instead, the Indian government’s early victory statements encouraged people to relax while they should have continued to strictly adhere to anti-epidemic measures such as wearing masks and not crowding. Thanh Hao

Meanwhile, health officials are looking to increase special-care beds and oxygen reserves. Not only relatives of patients, but also hospitals find all kinds of ways to buy medical equipment, even on the black market. Social media sites and television news are filled with images of relatives of Covid-19 patients struggling to find oxygen sources outside hospitals or crying on the streets when their loved ones die. while waiting for treatment. Family members mourning when patient Covid-19’s death is taken to the crematorium in Jammu, India. Photo: AP “It’s like we’re in the middle of a war.” Video recorded by The Caravan Magazine shows a woman crying after the death of her 50-year-old brother. This man was rejected by 2 hospitals [do đã quá tải và không còn chỗ] and died waiting to be taken to the 3rd hospital. The patient’s oxygen tank was exhausted and had no reserves. April 25 is the fourth consecutive day that India has broken a global record for the number of Covid-19 cases recorded per day, mainly due to a new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. As of the morning of April 26, India recorded 17,306,300 cases of Covid-19, of which 195,116 died and is currently the second largest epidemic area in the world, after the United States. Besides the heartbreaking image of exhausted patients on the way to the hospital due to lack of oxygen is a terrible picture in cemeteries and crematoria. The funeral homes in New Delhi are full of seats. The fire that cremated the victim of Covid-19 turned red in the night sky in the most affected cities. In the central Indian city of Bhopal, some funeral homes have increased their capacity to more than 50 crematoriums, but many bodies still have to wait hours and hours for their turn. Social networking sites and television news were filled with images of families crying when their loved ones died. Photo: AP At the Bhadbhada Vishram Ghat city crematory, workers said that on April 24 alone, they cremated more than 110 people. “The virus is devouring the people of our city like a monster. We cremated the bodies as soon as they arrived. It was as if we were in the middle of a war, ”said Mamtesh Sharma, a Bhadbhada Vishram Ghat city official. Refugees in the largest Muslim cemetery in New Delhi, where 1,000 people are buried during the Covid-19 pandemic, say more people have been brought there than last year. “I’m afraid we will run out of space very quickly,” said Mohammad Shameem. Crisis has been predicted The federal government has demanded that the industry increase oxygen production and other medications are scarce. Health experts say India had a year to prepare for this inevitable scenario, but they did not. Dr Krutika Kuppalli, an assistant professor at the Department of Infectious Diseases, University of South Carolina Medical, said that the Indian government should have taken advantage of 2020, when the epidemic was still under control, to anticipate storage of medicines and the development of new wave risk coping systems. The source of medical oxygen in India is running out. Photo: AP Instead, early declarations of victory over the Covid-19 pandemic left citizens letting go of precaution at a time when they should have continued to practice social distance, wear masks and avoid them. crowded people. Indian officials are facing criticism for allowing Hindu festivals as well as large-scale election campaigns to be held while experts have warned such activities will cause translation. The disease spreads rapidly. “They should have looked at what was happening in some parts of the world and understood that sooner or later they would be in a similar situation,” said Kuppalli. Currently, countries around the world are actively sending aid to India to help this country cope with the “Covid-19 tsunami”. The US says it will soon send stockpiling oxygen, test kits, medications, personal protective equipment and raw materials to India for the Covid-19 vaccine production. He also decided to send to India the necessary medical supplies and equipment, along with 600 ventilators and mobile oxygen generators. The first shipment departed from the UK on April 25 and will arrive in India on April 27.

But all hospitals are full. “We couldn’t find a hospital bed for him, but I couldn’t take him home, after all, under this condition”, Naharshetivar responded to local television, wearing a towel instead of a mask. They drove industriously for 24 hours. “He’s running out of oxygen.” He looked at his father. After 24 hours driving his father from hospital to hospital, Naharshetivar didn’t know how much longer he could do this. He looked urgently into the camera camera of the TV station and pleaded: “If I can’t give my father a hospital bed, is there a doctor that only needs to give him a shot? Can you help my father die painlessly?” People cremate those who have died because of COVID-19. (Photo: Getty) More than 1,200 kilometers away from the capital New Delhi, many COVID-19 patients die on stretchers outside the hospital overnight. Relatives tried to bring them in but could not make it in time. In Western Gujarat, a man cried painfully next to the body of his family – a cancer patient had just been tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and died in a parking lot when the hospital was overloaded. Some people argue and blame each other. Horrifying scenes are unfolding in hospitals and clinics across India. The country’s health system struggled as the number of COVID-19 cases skyrocketed. On April 22, India confirmed nearly 315,000 new infections in 24 hours – the highest number of cases per day in the world. In the following days, the record constantly being “shattered” in the epidemic is like a “tsunami” that can make anyone unlucky to fall. The disruption of the medical system brings with it fears that law and order will also wobble: oxygen trucks must move under police protection to deal with looting. The black market for selling medical equipment is “vibrant”. Vaccine theft was stolen from a hospital warehouse in Haryana but returned it with an apology. Police say the thief may have been planning to steal anti-virus drugs – drugs are also in serious shortage in this country. Some Indians have a self-sufficient inventory of oxygen at home, thinking that even trying to go to the hospital won’t do any good. Social media is full of desperate calls for help from bed seekers, oxygen, antivirals, vaccines. One longtime journalist even tweeted directly about his oxygen depletion levels until his death. The body of a person who died from COVID-19 was taken to the cremation site. (Photo: Getty) “I’ve never felt so hopeless or helpless”, Dr. Trupti Gilada said on Facebook. She cries while squatting in her car outside the Mumbai hospital, where she works. “We are seeing young people as well. We have a 35-year-old on mechanical ventilation. Please pray for our patients.” Vertical chart On the charts, the sudden increase in the number of cases in India is almost erect, rather than an ascending curve. This bewildered development hit the heads of Indians not long after their cases plunged to a record low in February. Dr. K. Srinath Reddy, epidemiologist and public health specialist working on a technical team that advises the Indian government on COVID-19, said: “Here many people, from the general public to the policymakers, are convinced that India will not have a second wave. Unfortunately, they have let their guard down. It is clear that society is open – tourism. , local elections, religious gatherings, weddings – have led to super contagious events. And the emergence of variations has also certainly increased this pace. “ The number of daily COVID-19 cases in India, the chart starts to “climb up” from mid-March 2021. (Source: Times of India) Last month, the Indian Ministry of Health announced it had detected 771 variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the country, including a “collection” of variants identified first in the UK, South. African and Brazilian, as well as the new variant is called “double mutation”. In that variant, Indian scientists say they are working on two mutations that could increase the virus’s infectivity and help it avoid vaccines. Fears are heightened when Indian media reported fully vaccinated people who are still ill, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, 88. He was hospitalized for COVID-19 almost three weeks after a second dose of vaccine on April 3. As of April 20, his condition had stabilized. However, experts say concerns about the reduced efficacy of the vaccine have yet to be scientifically proven. It is not clear how sick people were, or what of the hundreds of SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating throughout India. The country’s Ministry of Health said it has so far distributed 132 million doses of vaccine to a population of nearly 1.4 billion people. That means less than 10% of India’s population has received one dose and less than 2% have received 2 doses. On April 20, the Indian government released data showing that only 0.03% or 0.04% of fully vaccinated people tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. India has been using two vaccines with high efficacy rates in clinical trials: Oxford – AstraZeneca and another produced by Indian company Bharat Biotech. Cruel record Bodies were piled up in the morgue. The crematorium is not running at full capacity. According to official data, the number of new cases in India on April 25 increased by 352,991. However, this may not be the complete number, according to NPR . The number of deaths caused by COVID-19 in India also broke the record, 2,104 people on April 22, and 2,812 people on April 25, not to mention many deaths outside the hospital and not being tested. “The second wave of COVID-19 comes like a storm”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. The Indian government announced it would extend the vaccination population from May 1 to anyone over 18 years old. But in early April, hundreds of clinics across the country ran out of vaccines. Many people who came to the appointment saw signs posted at the hospital gates indicating the vaccination room was closed. It was a shock to the nation that prides itself on being the world’s largest producer of vaccines. India once exported COVID-19 vaccine, but now there are not enough vaccines for domestic use. (Illustration) Unlike the first phase, on January 20, Prime Minister Modi ruled out the possibility of continuing to block the country and told the states that blockade should only be used as a last resort. His government is facing criticism for allowing large numbers of events to unfold during the epidemic. In March 2020, when the number of cases was relatively low in India, Modi imposed the largest national blockade in the world. Residents are only notified 4 hours in advance. And the economic costs are staggering: India’s economy slumped by nearly 24%, migrant workers starved to death on the streets. This week, amid new restrictions imposed in the capital Delhi, one of the main bus stops here is once again filled with migrant workers, as they try to escape the city to return home. Social distance continues to become a luxury.

Seemapuri cremation site blazed as cases of the SARS-CoV-2 virus increased dramatically in New Delhi, India. Photo: Indian Photo Agency According to The Guardian (UK), the COVID-19 “tsunami” that swept through India is causing the number of cases and deaths in this country to increase exponentially. Cremators across the capital New Delhi are struggling to process the increasing number of bodies brought in. Many families of victims of COVID-19 deaths have to wait up to 20 hours to cremate each body because the crematoriums are full. In New Delhi, photos taken on April 27 show smoke rising from dozens of crematoriums in a parking lot that has been turned into a temporary cremation site. Elsewhere, workers had to build temporary crematoriums on vacant land outside crematoria. In addition, parks and many other empty spaces were also utilized. Workers build a temporary crematorium in a park on the grounds of a crematorium in New Delhi Photo: Getty Images “People are dying, dying out,” said Jitender Singh Shanty, who coordinates more than 100 cremations a day at a site east of the city. If more bodies were received, we would cremate the streets. There are no more vacancies here. We never thought we would see such horrible scenes ”. Worker building temporary crematorium in New Delhi Photo: Getty Images Previously, the BBC (UK) also reported that Indian officials had requested to cut trees in the park for firewood to cremate COVID-19 victims. The staff at the cremation site also had to work harder than usual. They were so busy that family members of the COVID-19 victims had to come in to help, like bringing firewood to a funeral pyre. Lines of corpses of COVID-19 victims await cremation at the Subhash Nagar crematory, in New Delhi on April 27. Photo: ANI At the Sarai Kale Khan cremation site in New Delhi, staff are handling approximately 60-70 bodies a day. This facility was originally capable of handling only 22 bodies. As a result, 27 new crematoriums have been built at this crematorium and dozens more are being added in a nearby park. Officials are also looking for more space near the city’s Yamuna River, as the COVID-19 death toll is expected to be even higher. Geeta Colony Cremation Site in New Delhi, India. Photo: India Today An employee at the Sarai Kale Khan crematorium shared that they were operating continuously from early morning to midnight. The Ghazipur crematorium in East Delhi had to build an additional 20 crematoriums in the parking lot. The situation is similarly tense, according to NDTV, about 25 other cremation and burial sites in the city. Sarai Kale Khan cremation site built 70 new crematoriums on the hideout when large numbers of corpses came here every day. Photo: India Today In the past 24 hours, India set a world record for new infections again, with 362,902 cases, while there were 3,285 new deaths, according to worldometers statistics site. According to CNN, India has recorded a total of more than 17.9 million cases of COVID since the outbreak of the pandemic, but the real number, according to experts, could be 30 times higher, which means that half a billion cases. Health officials and scientists in India have long warned that COVID-19 infections and reported deaths were negligible for a number of reasons, including poor infrastructure. , human error and low testing rate. India has pledged to provide emergency medical assistance amid overcrowded hospitals that continue to be unable to accommodate more patients due to a lack of beds and oxygen supplies. The country also imported 20 frozen vehicles and sent them to the states in an effort to address the shortage of oxygen vehicles. Many countries around the world, including the UK, Germany and the US, have also pledged to provide emergency medical aid to India in the context of the country’s health system struggling with COVID cases. -19 spike.

As India suffers from the world’s worst corona virus crisis, our New Delhi chiefs describe the fear of living in the midst of a pandemic spreading at large scale and speed. so. The crematoriums piled up the bodies, as if a war had just happened. Fire burns day and night. Many places held mass cremations, with dozens of people at the same time. And, at night, in some areas of New Delhi, the sky was blazing with flames. The sick person, without a bed, must lie down on the ground. Photo: New York Times. I waited for my turn to become infected Sickness and death were everywhere. Dozens of homes in my neighborhood have people infected. One of my colleagues is sick. My son’s teacher is also sick. The neighbor is two houses on the right side: Um. The two houses on the left: Um. “I don’t know what kind of illness I have,” said a good friend of mine who was in the hospital. “Just taking a breath and you will …”, his voice fades, unable to finish the sentence because he is too tired. He barely has a decent bed. And the medicine that the doctor prescribed for him is not in India. I was sitting in my house waiting for my turn to get sick. That is the feeling it is in New Delhi, as the world’s worst Covid-19 crisis is happening all around us. It’s out there, I’m here, and I feel as if it’s only a matter of time before I get sick. India is recording more infections every day, sometimes up to 350,000, more than any other country since the beginning of the pandemic, and that’s just the official numbers. Most experts believe that this number is lower than reality. The crematorium was overloaded, many bodies were waiting for their turn. Photo: New York Times. New Delhi, the vast capital of India’s 20 million people, is suffering from a huge spurt. A few days ago, the positive rate reached a staggering 36%. This means that more than a third of people tested are infected. A month ago, this figure was less than 3%. The disease spread so quickly that hospitals were completely flooded with sick people. Thousands of people were turned away. Medicine is exhausted. The same goes for lifesaving oxygen. Patients are trapped in long, tangled lines at the hospital gate or at home. They were gasping for breath, literally. Although New Delhi was blocked, the epidemic was still raging. Doctors across this city and some of Delhi’s top politicians are giving desperate SOS calls, both on social media and on TV, to beg for oxygen, medicine, and help. . It was as if war had just happened in India Experts have always warned that Covid-19 could devastate India completely. The country is vast with about 1.4 billion people, densely populated, and in many places, its inhabitants are still very poor. What we are witnessing is very different from last year, in the first wave of India. Then there is the fear of the unknown. Now we know. We know the overall disease, its size, its speed. We know how frightening this second wave is, it hits everyone at once. The outdoor collective cremation ground is constantly red and fiery. Photo: New York Times. What we feared in the first wave of last year is now coming to the fore: the disruption, the fall, the realization that so many people will die. As a foreign reporter for nearly 20 years, I traveled around war zones, was kidnapped in Iraq and sent to jail in many places. But this pandemic is worrisome in another way. There is no way to know if I, my wife, and two children are among those with mild illness and then recover well, or if we will be exhausted. And if we get really sick, where do we go? The intensive care areas are full. The entrance to many hospitals has been closed. A new strain here has a “double mutation” that can cause a lot of harm. Science has yet to delve into it, but as far as we know, one mutation makes the virus more contagious, and the other makes it partially resistant to the vaccine. Doctors are quite scared. I talked to a few people and they said that I had the vaccine twice but still got very sick. A Covid-19 patient is waiting to be hospitalized in South Delhi, April 24. Photo: New York Times. So what can we do? Personally, I try to stay optimistic, believing it to be one of the best immune system boosters. However, in reality, I find myself lazily walking indoors, cooking for the children in a lethargic state, feeling like both my mind and body are dough like wet powder. I’m afraid of checking my phone because I miss a text message telling my other friend that my friend is seriously ill, or worse. I am sure millions of people feel the same way. I began to visualize the symptoms: Did I have a sore throat? What is that headache? Is my condition worse today than yesterday? A part of where I live, South Delhi, is now blocked. Like many other places, we had a strict blockade last year. But now, the doctors here are warning us that the virus is more contagious and we have a lot less chance of getting help than the last wave. Therefore, many of us are frightened when we step outside, as if there is poison in the air and everyone is afraid of breathing. No one wears a mask, not even the police Delhi is plunged into hardships and dangers, but the situation is still getting worse. Epidemiologists say the number will continue to grow, possibly up to 500,000 new infections per day nationwide, and up to one million Indians will die from Covid-19 until August. It should not be like this. India was anti-epidemic well up until a few weeks ago, at least on the surface. The country closed its doors, experienced the first wave, then reopened. The mortality rate here is very low (at least according to official statistics). Last winter, life almost returned to normal. I was out for the news in January and February, driving through towns in Central India. Nobody – I mean, no one, not even the police – wear a mask. This is as if the country is telling itself: “It’s okay, we have it under control”, despite the wave of a second wave. But now, not many people dare to think like that anymore. Relatives of a Covid-19 victim were performing a religious ceremony during the funeral on April 24. Photo: New York Times. Many in India are also upset with the speed of the vaccination campaign. Less than 10% of the population has received one dose, and only 1.6% are fully vaccinated, even though India is producing two vaccines. “Catastrophic catastrophe” Here, as elsewhere, the rich are less affected by a crisis. But this time it was different. A friend of mine, well connected, asked all the people he knew to help his friend, a severe Covid-19 patient. His friend is dead. No one can help him in hospital. The patient is paralyzed. “I tried everything to get him a bed, but we couldn’t. Everything is chaotic, ”my friend said, his emotions still intact. “This is a disaster. This is murder ”. Every day, I ventured out to buy food because no one delivered it. I wear two masks completely and stay as far away from others as possible. Almost every day passed, a family of 4 of us all withered from inside. We try to play together, try not to talk about the people who just got sick, or the people running around town looking for help, and they probably won’t find it. Sometimes we just sat quietly in the living room, looking out at the sweet figs and palms. Through the open window, on long, hot, quiet afternoons, we can only hear two languages: the sound of an ambulance. And birds. ‘The dead cannot leave peacefully in New Delhi either’ India is suffering from a serious shortage of medical equipment and oxygen in the context of a rapidly increasing number of Covid-19 cases. The patient’s family had to wait languidly for the cremation.

The Nigambodh Ghat Crematorium in New Delhi, India. Photo: Getty Images According to CNN (USA), a crematorium in the state of Uttar Pradesh is in a similar situation, with the number of bodies brought to cremation fivefold in recent weeks, as the 2nd wave of COVID-19s. booming in India. “We had to work day and night, at 100% capacity, to cremate bodies in time,” said Kamlesh Sailor, chairman of the Kurukshetra Cremation Facility Executive Trust in Surat City, Gujarat State. west India, said. Data difference As India’s health system is on the brink of collapse, several major cities have recorded far greater numbers of bodies sent to cremation and burial compared to deaths due to COVID-19. official father. On April 18, India recorded a record 273,810 cases of COVID-19 and 1,619 deaths. As of April 20, the total number of COVID-19 cases of this country has exceeded 15.5 million, second only to the US. A front line employee cremates a man who died of COVID-19 at a crematorium in the Indian suburbs of Mumbai. Photo: Reuters Reliable data is central to the government’s pandemic response, experts say. Without reliable data collection, the preparation of hospital beds and medical essentials will be extremely difficult. But Indian government officials say the disparity in mortality data could be caused by many factors, including an overly prudent body handling process. Many bodies are still cremated according to COVID-19, even if they are only 0.1% likely to be positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, a health official said. “Many hospitalized patients were in critical condition and died before testing. There are cases where patients died before admission, we don’t know if they have COVID-19 or not”, the official said to be anonymous. Ms. Bhramar Mukherjee, Professor of Epidemiology and Biological Statistics at the University of Michigan, said there are many areas in India where accurate data cannot be collected. “Things are messed up. It feels like no one understands this situation, it’s annoying,” said Ms. Mukherjee. The crematorium is operating at full capacity The crematorium of patients COVID-19 in Surat broke out. Photo: AFP In Surat, the second largest city in the state of Gujarat, the crematorium Kurukshetra and Umra processed more than 100 bodies a day according to COVID-19 regulations last week. The number of bodies cremated is much higher than the daily death toll, according to the city’s official record of about 25 people. Mr. Prashant Kabrawala, representative of Narayan Trust, Ashwinikumar crematorial company, refused to provide the number of bodies cremated in accordance with COVID-19 regulations. However, he says the number has tripled in recent weeks. “I have never seen so many cremated bodies in the last years, even during the outbreak of the plague in 1994 and the flood of 2006,” Kabrawala said. A Government spokesperson for India in Gujarat declined to respond to a request for comment. India is not the only country that is skeptical of the SARS-CoV-2 virus statistical data. But documents and staff testimonies at cremations show that the disparity in officially reported deaths in India is much higher than in other countries. Professor Mukherjee’s study on the first wave of epidemics in India showed that the number of viral infections was 11 times more than officially reported, which is similar to research in other countries. Besides, the number of deaths in this country is actually 2-5 times higher than the reported data, far exceeding the global average. A relative of COVID-19 victim leans sadly against a glass window at a crematory in New Delhi. Photo: Getty In Lucknow, the state capital of Uttar Pradesh, data from Baikunthdham, the largest cremation facility for people with COVID-19, found that the number of corpses disposed of in April was twice as high as the number of deaths. Death from COVID-19 is recognized by the government. These figures do not take into account other burial facilities, or cases where COVID-19 victims were buried according to Muslim custom – the community makes up a quarter of Lucknow’s population. The number of bodies cremated under COVID-19 regulations has increased fivefold in recent weeks, said Azad, manager of the Baikunthdham facility. “We work day and night. The crematorium is constantly on fire, but many bodies are still waiting in line,” Azad said. People pray before burying the COVID-19 victims at a cemetery in New Delhi. Photo: Reuters Cremations are many times greater than the COVID-19 mortality data also recorded in many other parts of India. In just four days of April, two cremation facilities in Bhopal – the capital of Madhya Pradesh state, central India – recorded 187 bodies cremated according to COVID-19. Meanwhile, the number of deaths from COVID-19 officially announced by the authorities was only 5. Last week, the local Sandesh newspaper reported 63 bodies were taken to a hospital for patients with COVID-19 in the city of Ahmedabad. But that same day, the city authorities counted only 20 people who died from COVID-19. The Lancet Medical Journal says less than a quarter of all deaths in India are medically confirmed, especially in rural areas. This means that the actual COVID-19 mortality in many other Indian states may not be counted. “Most of the deaths are not reported so it is impossible to calculate,” said Ms. Mukherjee.

India ‘broke the game’ in the second wave of Covid-19 India is being devastated by the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. In just 24 hours, the number of deaths due to the country’s pandemic reached 2,000 people and more than 300,000 new cases. Every night, fire blazed brightly on the banks of the Ganges River. Not the flames of traditional Hindu festivals, they are the cremations of the bodies of the victims who died for Covid-19, a horrifying symbol of the unprecedented humanitarian tragedy taking place in India. Degree. From urban to rural areas, patients die in the despair of relatives, because they cannot find an empty hospital bed. The supply of oxygen and medicine was depleted, leading to countless cases of robbery of medical supplies from the hospital. At cremation facilities, crematoriums are always red for 24 hours, but countless dead bodies are still waiting in line, according to the report. Financial Times . Staff at a cremation facility in New Delhi. Photo: AFP. The epidemic wave is unprecedented The grim reality has sparked a flame of public anger over the authorities’ preparations. Just two months ago, India appeared to have successfully controlled the epidemic. However, as of April 22, India broke the world record for the number of new infections per day with 312,732 virus-positive cases. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata party allegedly put political interests above public health after holding a series of large-scale rallies, as well as allowing a Kumbh Mela festival of millions to be held. attendees in the midst of the second epidemic wave. A new strain is suspected of being behind the current wave of terrible epidemics, leading experts to fear India is on a path similar to Brazil – a country where the health system and economy have been brought down by the corona virus. down. “The health system is not well prepared for this epidemic wave. A lot of people in government across the country are not thinking of this new wave of epidemics. Some miraculously they assume we are already.” over the pandemic, “said Srinath Reddy, chairman of the Indian Community Health Foundation. Although the mortality rate is still relatively low, other indicators are pointing to a worsening crisis. Both the number of new infections and the positive rate are growing at the fastest rates in the world. The rate of infection increased from 3% last month to 16% now. Relatives kneel and cry beside the body of a patient who has died of Covid-19. Photo: AP. In the capital New Delhi, there are more new infections every day than in any other city. Every 5 days, the number of Covid-19 cases doubles. In many areas, the number of infected people outstrips the hospital’s ability to service. In the city of Nagpur, the proportion of patients requiring intensive care is 353 people per million people, higher than anywhere in Europe. Meanwhile, in the financial capital Mumbai, the rate is 194 patients per million population. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that many deaths from Covid-19 have not been fully counted. According to media reports in seven counties in the states of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, at least 1,833 bodies have been cremated with Covid-19 in recent days. However, only 228 deaths from Covid-19 have been officially recorded. In the Jamnagar district in Gujarat, 100 people died of Covid-19, but only one case has been officially reported. People died everywhere The state of Uttar Pradesh, home to 200 million people, is one of the poorest states in India. The situation in the capital Lucknow shows that India’s medical infrastructure is on the brink of collapse. Local media said that at King George’s College of Medicine alone, up to 50 patients lined up for a hospital bed. Shivi Shah is a resident of Lucknow. When her brother was positive for corona virus last week, Shah decided to send his parents to his home to avoid the worst scenario. But it was all too late, for both Shah and father. After only 3 days, her father began to lose his eyesight. 45 minutes after the emergency call, an ambulance arrived at the Shah’s house, but the car was not equipped with enough medical equipment to treat her father. The man later died on the way to the hospital. The cremation facility staff members hand-clasped the dead body of Covid-19 before placing it in the crematorium. Photo: Daily News. Unable to find a place to bury his father’s body, Shah continued to receive bad news about his mother. Her mother passed away just a few hours later in her sleep. By this time, both the Shah and his son had a fever, they were waiting for the results of the Covid-19 test. “None of us have ever seen tragedy and death like what’s happening. The situation is much worse now than last year, so many people die on the street, or die in their own homes, before. was seen by a doctor or got the test results, “said Seema Shukla, a nurse at the Sanjay Gandhi Medical Institute in Lucknow. “From early morning to midnight, my phone rang continuously. My relatives and friends desperately begged for help, they needed everything, ventilators, hospital beds, nurses, oxygen tanks, medicine. men, “said Shukla. Officials warn a new strain of strain is likely to be the cause of the current wave of epidemics, strain B.1.617 was first discovered in India in March. Scientists are doing more research on this strain, suspecting it is more contagious and resistant to vaccines. Jeffrey Barrett, an expert from the Wellcome Sanger Genetic Research Institute, said the number of cases in India gave a very dark picture, but scientists are still uncertain whether the B.1.617 strain is. is the cause or not. Up to this point, experts have mostly criticized a part of the unconscious population and the complacent, subjective attitude of the Indian government for leading to a bad spread in the second wave of epidemics. Vineeta Bal, an expert from the National Institute of Immunology in India, says the cause of the current crisis has even deeper roots. The collapse of the health system is the result of years of government neglect to public health infrastructure, Bal said. Over the years, India’s health spending has lagged far behind the world average. “The problem is not only the current government but also the public health system for the past 50 years. The situation will not be resolved in a single year of crisis. The health system has been left indifferent. very, many years, “said Mrs. Bal. Santosh Kumar, son of party leader Bharatiya Janata in Lucknow, said he was isolated at home with his family. All four members of Mr. Kumar’s family have Covid-19. “The whole system has collapsed. The rest of the government here are in quarantine. People have to find out for themselves what medicines they can take and what they can do to save themselves”, Mr. Kumar said.

Artificial diamond planting technology allows the ashes to turn into diamonds. Diamonds The condition for carbon smelting into artificial diamond is an environment of 1.5 million pounds / inch2 pressure and 1,500 degrees Celsius. Since 1954, General Electric Corporation (USA) has successfully installed diamond compression chambers. artificial. Starting in the 1980s, artificial diamond jewelry appeared on the market. In recent years, thanks to Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), an innovative artificial diamond product comparable to that of a natural diamond has been created. In the US, some cremation companies incorporate artificial diamond smelting technology. They introduce a service that turns the ashes of the dead into diamonds. Diamonds are artificial diamonds forged in a compression chamber with cremated ashes. After cremating the dead body, the crematorium took the ashes to extract carbon. They put this carbon into the diamond implantation chamber, refining the gemstone. Polygonal and polymorphic Diamonds meet all styles and colors. From the ecological perspective, turning the dead body into diamonds is a solution of “green” burial. Because, it contributes to CO2 reduction. “Carbon from the deceased’s body only meets 10% of the amount
carbon needed, ”said Adelle Archer – co-founder and CEO of Eterneva, a cremation company based in Texas. The crematorium needs to bring the remaining 90% in from the outside. CO2 is one of the richest sources of carbon. Modern science has also succeeded in separating carbon from this exhaust. Observing the diamond smelting process shows that carbon ashes play a role as grains of sand in the scallops body. It continuously absorbs the added carbon, eventually forming a gemstone, exactly the same way a pearl is born. The crematorium also provides a color selection service for the diamond. Regardless of what color is required by a deceased relative, they can do so by adding the corresponding element, such as nitrogen (giving a yellow diamond), boron (giving a blue diamond), etc. After the color, they allow their relatives to lose the choice of a diamond shape, design a memorial jewelry to store or wear on the body. Diamonds have the same value as artificial diamonds. Currently, the price of artificial diamonds is about 3,000 USD / carat (about 70 million VND). The future of burial? Diamond jewelry to ease the pain of losing a relative. Diamonds act as the embodiment of the deceased. “It comforts people who stay behind, ease pain and lift their spirits by thinking, the deceased is still with us,” Archer said. In early 2021, ecologist Tessie Offner (Florida) suddenly lost her father. In the midst of a pandemic, she was forced to choose a cremation for him. As soon as he learned that the crematorium had a service to turn the ashes into diamonds, Offner immediately found out. She is known that the diamond training time from ashes can last from 3 weeks to 2 months (depending on the color choice). During this time, Offner is authorized to monitor every step of the process. She also has more time to collect money and pay bills. As an ecologist, Offner appreciated the “diamond burial” solution. She is also satisfied with the lightness, mobility, and toughness of the diamond. However, not everyone agrees with Offner. Professor Tim Cupery (Fresno) said that he does not have the habit of sticking with things. Although recently, Cupery’s wife accidentally dropped her heirloom ring, but he did not blame or be upset. Cupery had no thought of turning the ashes of his relatives into diamonds, keeping them with him. Dancer Barbara McAlister (Texas) does not like the crematorium to bring in too much carbon from the outside. She feels that only 10% of a human diamond is a corpse that does not function as a substitute. “If it could be 50 percent or more, I would think,” McAlister said. Besides, the crematorium also does not limit the number of diamonds. Based on the available carbon source, they meet any quantity requirement. Many people are concerned that this is just a disguised artificial diamond trade. Although not popular, diamonds ashes are expected to become a green and aesthetic burial. Cremators in the US are very transparent in this practice. They publish detailed price lists, allowing funerals to choose services with financial conditions.

New York Times sent reporters to cremations across India and found that the number of deaths caused by Covid-19 was higher than official figures. According to experts, Indian politicians and health officials missed many cases, both unintentional and intentional. The victim’s family also contributes to conceal the disease status of the deceased, making the situation even more complicated. “This is a data disaster,” says epidemiologist Bhramar Mukherjee from the University of Michigan. “From all modeling calculations done, we believe that the actual number of deaths is 2 to 5 times higher than reported”. The actual situation of the cremation ground In a cremation ground in the city of Ahmedabad, capital of the state of Gujarat, western India, fire was lit night and day to serve the cremation of the dead. Mr. Suresh Bhai, an employee here, said he had never seen so many deaths. However, in the section of cause of death on the file, he did not enter Covid-19. “Oops, sick, sick, sick …”, Mr. Suresh said. “That’s what we write.” Indian people pray after the death of a loved one caused by Covid-19. Photo: The New York Times. Mr. Suresh said that this order was issued by his superiors. These people declined to comment on the incident. Cremation is an important part of Hindu farewell rituals. This is considered an act to help the soul be released from the body. The staff at the cremation site said they felt exhausted. These employees also shared that they have never seen so many deaths at the same time today. In the industrial city of Surat, Gujarat state, some of the iron frames used for cremation have melted due to overuse. In the city of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh state, the authorities had to make use of the park to cremate the body. The price of subjectivity Not long ago, India seemed to be on the right track in the prevention of the Covid-19 pandemic, when cases and deaths were under control. Facing this achievement, both Indian officials and people proved subjective and did not continue to take measures to prevent epidemics. But the worst has only just begun. The number of more than 300,000 new infections a day exceeds the capacity of the Indian health sector. The beds are seriously overloaded. A hospital bed with dozens of people lined up for use. There was a time when hospitals in the capital New Delhi only had enough oxygen for a few hours. Cremation of the dead in India. Photo: The New York TImes. Countless Indians are on social media pleading for beds, medicine and oxygen to breathe. The cremations were red and red regardless of day and night. There were times when dozens of bodies were cremated at once. Meanwhile, India’s vaccination campaign is having problems. Only 10% of people in this country get at least one vaccine, even though India is the leading manufacturer of vaccines in the world. According to the Washington Post , the rate of people who have had two injections in India is only 1.4%. Medical experts believe that part of the cause comes from the mutant virus strain B.1.617. This is called a “double mutation” strain, which carries the mutation of two other mutant viruses. This makes B.1.617 both more contagious and more difficult to control than conventional viruses. “Cremation sites have never been so crowded” Residents of Bhopal city, Madhya Pradesh state, say cremations have never been so crowded. Bhopal officials recorded 41 deaths related to the Covid-19 outbreak in mid-April 13 days. New York Times At the city’s crematorium and cemetery for victims of Covid-19, the death toll amounted to more than 1,000 during that same period. “Many deaths have not been recorded. This number is increasing, ”said Dr. GCGautam, a cardiologist in Bhopal. According to him, the government did so because it did not want to create a wave of panic among the people. A similar situation was observed in Lucknow and Mirzapur, the main cities of Uttar Pradesh state. In the state of Gujarat, the local Sandesh newspaper pointed out that the number of deaths per day is about 610, many times higher than the 73-121 number announced by the government. The rapid increase in the number of deaths caused the cremation grounds to become crowded. Photo: The New York TImes. There are many reasons leading to this situation. Subjectively, according to epidemiologist Bhramar Mukherjee from the University of Michigan, some families do not want to have to bury their loved ones with the strict process of handling the bodies of Covid-19 patients. Objectively, some states are said to have received requests from the central government, where they have to slightly reduce the numbers from reality. In addition, even in the pre-pandemic years, only about a fifth of deaths have been forensically examined. This means that the cause of death of the majority of Indians is not recorded in official records. For his part, Mr. Suresh Bhai continued to work diligently. “Every day, my cemetery has to deal with 15-20 patients of Covid-19 who have died,” he said amid the flare of the flames. India ‘broke the game’ in the second wave of Covid-19 India is being devastated by the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. In just 24 hours, the number of deaths due to the country’s pandemic reached 2,000 people and more than 300,000 new cases.

Actual casualties are 2-5 times higher The second wave of Covid-19 in India quickly pushed the country into a total crisis, overloading hospitals, depleting oxygen supplies, desperate lines of people not being treated by doctors and there is evidence that the actual death toll is much higher than officially reported, according to the New York Times. Every day the Government of India records more than tens of thousands of new infections – a world record high – more new cases than any other country to date. However, experts say those numbers, no matter how staggering, represent only a small fraction of the true spread of the pandemic that puts the country in a state of emergency. Millions of people dare not even step out the door for fear of spreading the disease. Indian people mourn in front of a cremation site. Photo: NYT The sudden increase in new infections in recent weeks, with a newer variant, is raising suspicions about the actual number of deaths from India’s Covid-19 – currently reported to be 200,000. , with more than 2,000 people dying every day. Investigations from cremation facilities across the country revealed a large number of deaths from Covid-19 far exceeding the official figure. According to analysts, politicians and hospital managers can reduce this number. “It was a complete data massacre,” said Bhramar Mukherjee, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan who has followed India closely. “From all the models we have done, we believe that the actual death toll is 2 to 5 times what is reported.” At one of the major cremation sites in Ahmedabad, a city in the state of Gujarat, western India, flames blazed through the night sky, burning 24 hours a day, like an industrial factory never. Turn off. On April 24, Indian officials reported nearly 350,000 new infections, while the number of deaths continued to increase. At a hospital in New Delhi, doctors said 20 patients in critical condition died after oxygen pressure dropped. Doctors claim that severe oxygen scarcity is the cause of the soaring death toll. In Bhopal, a large city in central India, where the disaster of gas leaks in the 1980s caused thousands of deaths, residents said this was the “busiest” time in cremation zones. since that disaster. Over the course of 13 days in mid-April, Bhopal officials reported 41 deaths related to Covid-19. But a survey by the New York Times found the number of deaths at the same time to more than 1,000. A similar phenomenon took place in Lucknow and Mirzapur – major cities in the state of Uttar Pradesh – and across Gujarat, during the same time period, authorities reported between 73 and 121 Covid-related deaths. -19 per day. But detailed figures compiled by one of Gujarat’s leading newspapers – Sandesh – indicate that the number is many times higher, around 610 people per day. What’s happening in India? Months ago, India appeared to have effective epidemic control. After the stern blockade orders that prevented the first outbreak from being eased, India no longer recorded a large number of cases. Officials and citizens have begun to be subjective and act as if the worst days are over. Now, countless Indians have been forced to go to social media to send an emergency (SOS) calling to give them bed, medicine or “some oxygen to breathe”. At the same time, India’s Covid-19 vaccine campaign is also facing difficulties. Less than 10% of Indians have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, even though the country is the world’s leading producer of the vaccine. Severe Indian needs have had a ripple effect around the world, especially in poorer countries. The country had planned to export millions of doses of vaccine but so far this has stopped completely due to severe shortage of vaccines in the country. This also affects when some countries have to divert imports from other countries Doctors are concerned, this terrible wave originated from the emergence of a virus variant “double mutation” – B.1.617. This variant contains genetic mutations found in two other uncontrolled versions of the SARS-CoV2 virus. One of the mutations included in the highly contagious variant was the cause of California (USA) struggles earlier this year. The other mutation is similar to the one found in South Africa and is thought to make the virus more resistant to the vaccine. However, scientists warn that it is too early to know for certain how dangerous the new variant emerging in India is. The results can be worst when combined with the ability to spread faster and more difficult to control. This is worrying scientists across the globe as high-rate vaccinated countries are easing and starting to be subjective. Because of the failures in India, Brazil and elsewhere that there is a risk that the virus could mutate to “beat” existing vaccines.

“We have to race against time, work at 100% capacity to cremate bodies in time,” said Kamlesh Sailor, president of the organization that operates a cremation facility in Surat City, Gujarat state. Data from cremation facilities, media to the government show that the number of people buried or cremated by major cities is much greater than the number of Covid-19 deaths recorded by the authorities. official health announcement, according to Reuters . The difference in the number of deaths Reliable data is central to every nation’s anti-pandemic efforts, experts say. Without reliable data, such as vaccine preparation and medical essentials supply are extremely difficult. On April 19, India recorded 273,810 new infections, along with 1,619 deaths. The total number of Covid-19 cases in India is now more than 15 million, ranking second only to the United States. But it is more likely that the above statistic is much lower than what is actually happening. The bodies are cremated according to Covid-19 defense regulations in India. Photo: Sentinel. Indian authorities say the discrepancy in death data could be caused by a variety of reasons. Many corpses are cremated according to the Covid-19 prevention “even if there is only a 0.1% chance that the person is positive for the virus,” said a health official. “There are many cases where patients are hospitalized in a very critical condition and die before being tested. There are cases where patients died prior to admission, we don’t know if they have Covid-19 or not”, the official said to be anonymous. There are many areas in India where reliable data cannot be collected, said Bhramar Mukherjee, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Michigan. “Things are messed up, I feel like no one understood the situation,” Mr. Mukherjee said. Surat is the second largest city in the state of Gujarat. At the cremation facilities Kurukshetra and Umra, more than 100 bodies are cremated every day according to Covid-19 regulations. This figure is four times higher than the official statistics of the number of people dying from Covid-19. Prashant Kabrawala, representative of the Narayan Trust, which runs the Ashwinikumar cremation facility, refused to provide the number of bodies cremated under anti-epidemic regulations. However, he says the number of cremations has tripled in recent weeks. “I’ve never seen so many cremated bodies over the years,” Kabrawala said. An Indian government spokesman in Gujarat declined to comment ahead of the difference in the number of deaths and cremations associated with the epidemic. India is not the only country where corona virus statistics have been questioned. But scientific literature and cremation staff testimony show that the disparity in officially reported deaths in India is much higher than in other countries. Professor Mukherjee’s study against the first wave of epidemics in India showed that the number of viral infections is 11 times more than officially reported, which is similar to research in other countries. However, the difference in officially reported deaths ranges from 2-5 times, much higher than the global average. The incinerator burned non-stop In Lucknow, the state capital of Uttar Pradesh, data from the largest cremation facility called Baikunthdham, which only processed the bodies of Covid-19 patients, showed that the number of bodies brought in was twice as high. The death of corona virus is reported by the government. That’s not to mention data from other cremation facilities, or cases of the Muslim customary burial – the community that makes up a quarter of Lucknow’s population. Azad, the Baikunthdham facility manager, said the number of bodies cremated under anti-epidemic regulations has increased fivefold in recent weeks. “We work day and night. The furnace is burning red continuously, but many bodies still have to line up,” Azad said. The state government of Uttar Pradesh declined to respond to a request for comment on Covid-19 death data. Cremations many times greater than the number of Covid-19 deaths have also been reported in many other parts of India. Cremation facility staff in New Delhi are exhausted from a work shift. Photo: QZ. In Bhopal, the state capital of Madhya Pradesh, it was recorded during 4 days of April that 187 bodies had been cremated according to anti-epidemic regulations. However, the number of corona virus deaths officially announced by the authorities is only 5. Last week, the sheet Sandesh 63 bodies were reported to a hospital for Covid-19 patients only in the city of Ahmedabad. However, that same day, the city authorities only counted 20 people died from the corona virus. Medical Journal Lancet says less than 25% of all deaths in India are confirmed medically, meaning that the exact number of deaths from Covid-19 in many regions cannot be determined. “Most of the deaths are not reported, so it is impossible to have a reliable calculation,” said Professor Mukherjee.