India is currently in the midst of a deadly surge of COVID-19 infections that has left the country devastated as the death toll mounts and hospitals are beyond capacity. Daily cases have crossed the record-breaking threshold of 350,000 a day. India has witnessed more than 219,000 deaths by the beginning of May, according to The New York Times, though experts are saying that the actual figures are much higher.
The country is experiencing major shortages of medical supplies like lifesaving oxygen ventilators and Indian healthcare providers are struggling to cope with the massive influx of new COVID-19 patients. In addition, misinformation is rampant in the subcontinent, as fake news stories, conspiracy theories, and unsubstantiated information continues to circulate, causing unnecessary anxiety and complicating the country’s fight against the pandemic.
A health worker waits for the results of a rapid antigen test at a COVID-19 testing center in Srinagar, India. Photo: Idrees Abbas / SOPA Images/Sipa USA
As a catastrophic second wave of COVID-19 infections ravages India, an Israeli non-governmental humanitarian aid agency has begun providing emergency medical supplies and support to struggling 20 government-run hospitals in a rural areas with fewer resources than the country’s cities.
IsraAID has teamed up with the local Gabriel Project Mumbai, a Jewish volunteer-based non-profit organization, to help with urgent relief needed in the Maharashtra’s Palghar district, a mostly rural and tribal region bordering Mumbai, and home to over 4 million residents. Palghar is among the worst hit areas of the state, where the COVID-19 case count has gone up to 90,654, with a death toll of 1,621.