The Big Question: Can India Find a Way Out of Its Covid Nightmare?
May 04 2021, 7:09 AM
May 02 2021, 5:30 PM
May 04 2021, 7:09 AM
(Bloomberg Opinion) This is one of a series of interviews by Bloomberg Opinion columnists on how to solve todayâs most pressing policy challenges. It has been condensed and edited.
(Bloomberg Opinion)
This is one of a series of interviews by Bloomberg Opinion columnists on how to solve todayâs most pressing policy challenges. It has been condensed and edited.
Bobby Ghosh: India is suffering the worldâs worst Covid-19 crisis. The daily infection rate is more than 300,000; the daily death toll, in excess of 2,000, is very likely an undercount. The health system has broken down, with scarcities in everything from hospital beds to oxygen. The Indian government has restricted vaccine exports and is instead trying to secure supplies from abroad.
Read more about RT-PCR coronavirus tests and false negatives: Why is that happening? on Business Standard. As Covid-19 case numbers increase rapidly, and people are finding it hard to get RT-PCR tests done, get a sense of what is happening on the ground
Doctors and scientists explain what is happening on the ground. 4 hours ago False negative test results can occur if the sample was not taken at the right time in one s infection. | Noah Seelam / AFP
Earlier in April, Arjun Sharma (name changed on request) visited three hospitals in Delhi with his father, trying to get an oxygen bed for him. His father had tested negative for Covid-19 on an
RT-PCR test, but was showing symptoms of the disease – his oxygen levels had dropped and a CT scan showed infection and pneumonia in his lungs.
“Doctors who we consulted said that my father most likely has Covid-19 and should get admitted to a hospital to get oxygen support,” said Sharma, a central government employee living in east Delhi. “But the test was negative despite his serious symptoms, and maybe this was a false-negative test result.”
Negative RT-PCR Tests Blamed On Faulty Sample Collection, Wrong Timing indiaspend.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from indiaspend.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) India recorded the world s highest daily tally of 314,835 COVID-19 infections on Thursday as a second wave of the pandemic raised new fears about the ability of the crumbling health services to cope.
Health officials across northern and western India, including the capital, New Delhi, said they were in crisis, with most hospitals full and running out of oxygen.
Some doctors advised patients to stay at home, while a crematorium in the eastern city of Muzaffarpur said it was being overwhelmed with bodies, and grieving families had to wait their turn. A crematorium east of Delhi built funeral pyres in its parking lot.