The catastrophic effects of the coronavirus pandemic are being felt all over India, especially in remotely located villages and towns. In places where healthcare facilities are severely limited and access to medical attention in the case of emergencies is difficult, Covid-19 patients are dying without being given a fighting chance.
As of May 27, the official toll from the pandemic in India stood at 311,388. But the actual number of fatalities is estimated to be far higher.
This photo essay by Reuters photographer Danish Siddiqui captures in miniature the story of how the pandemic is wreaking havoc across rural India. Pramila Devi was 36. She was married to 43-year-old Suresh Kumar and had three children. She died in her village in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district on May 23, a day after testing positive for Covid-19, according to Sankalp Phartiyal’s report.
Pramila Devi had been showing Covid-19 symptoms for over a week. After she tested positive at a government dispensary in Kaljikhal, she was advised to get admitted to a better-equipped facility. The dispensary had four beds for Covid-19 patients and only one doctor and a oxygen cylinder and concentrator each, the report said.
Unable to afford the hospitalisation, Pramila Devi’s husband took her back home. Her nephew Rajesh Kumar brought her back to the dispensary the next day, but the oxygen cylinder was being used by another patient. The oxygen concentrator was not working because of a disruption in power supply. Pramila Devi, whose oxygen levels were dangerously low, got some respite when the power was restored.
The family took Pramila Devi home once again. However, when her condition worsened, they hired an ambulance to rush her back to the dispensary. She died during the journey.
Pramila Devi was cremated on the banks of the Ganga in Pauri Garhwal.
Uttarakhand has reported 45,568 COVID-19 cases and 6,020 fatalities as of May 25, the Reuters report said. The state’s pilgrimage centre Haridwar recently hosted the superspreader Kumbh Mela gathering. However, many local residents are either refusing to get tested or are being tested too late, the report added.
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