LISTEN: #CarolOforiExclusive: "India has five beds for every 10,000 Indians!"
In this informative second insert of touching down on #COVIDEmergencyIndia, Carol Ofori speaks to Dr Chayanika Uniyal, Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of Delhi, who is also currently working as National Secretary of Mahila Congress.
With the world up in arms about the new variant of the COVID-19 virus in India, we come to you with a burning desire to find out what the streets of India, particularly Delhi, look like.
In this second interview, Carol Ofori interviews Dr Chananika Uniyal, who is in Delhi and is seeing things as it happens. She started off talking about the high volumes of infections and that the real numbers are maybe five to ten times more than the recorded numbers, as well as the system not being able to cope with the situation.
The biggest question is, what is happening with the vaccines? India is exporting vaccines but what about the vaccines for the Indian people?
Dr Uniyal admits that her country handled the first wave quite well and then the people started taking things for granted, including the government.
The fact that the election rallies were still being permitted and large gatherings were being initiated by political parties, added tremendously to the rise in the infection rates.
Although India is manufacturing a large number of vaccines, they are exporting those, so sadly, the people of India do not have access to those vaccines.
India is in need of a lockdown throughout the country. Some states are on lockdown but some are not. Dr Uniyal believes that everyone needs to stay home so that the country can see some relief when it comes to the rise of infections.
The lack of oxygen is a problem throughout the country. If a capital like Delhi doesn't have access to oxygen, then she can't imagine what the rural areas must be experiencing...
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When asked about what the country did to cause the current situation, she said that "ignorance" was at the forefront of the emergency situation in India.
Vaccinations have started but are currently out of stock. "Today, despite being the world's biggest producer of vaccines, India does not have enough for itself", said Dr. Uniyal.
Listen to the full podcast below:
Image Courtesy of AFP