Covid-19 causes disaster in India, while in Laos the number of patients increases by 3 digits
Amid a severe shortage of medical oxygen, families in India are taking it upon themselves to rush their Covid-19-infected loved ones from hospital to hospital in search of treatment. But their efforts often end in vain.
In India, hospitals are always overcrowded and full. Many patients have to lie in the corridors, even on the streets, waiting for their turn to be examined.
Meanwhile, health officials are scrambling to increase intensive care beds and oxygen supplies. Hospitals, not just relatives of patients, are scrambling to buy medical equipment, including on the black market.
Social media and television news are filled with images of relatives of Covid-19 patients struggling to find oxygen outside hospitals or crying in the streets as their loved ones die while waiting for treatment.
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As of the morning of April 26, India recorded 17,306,300 Covid-19 cases, including 195,116 deaths and is currently the second largest epidemic area in the world, after the US.
Along with the heartbreaking images of patients exhausted on their way to the hospital due to lack of oxygen are horrific images of cemeteries and crematoriums.
Funeral homes in the capital New Delhi are packed. The flames of cremating Covid-19 victims light up the night sky in the worst-affected cities.
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| Many crematoriums in India are overloaded due to the large number of deaths from Covid-19. |
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 for their turn.
* On the afternoon of April 26, the National Steering CommitteeLaosRegarding Covid-19 prevention and control, the country announced that it recorded 113 new cases.
This is the first time since the outbreak that Laos has recorded three-digit new Covid-19 cases in one day.
Among the new cases, 54 were detected in Champasak province, 31 in the capital Vientiane, 13 in Savannakhet, 7 in Bokeo and the remaining cases in Oudomxay, Phongsaly, Sekong, Xayaboury, Luang Prabang and in Vientiane province.
This is the second consecutive day that the number of new cases in the capital Vientiane has decreased, after reaching 84 cases two days ago.
With 31 new cases, including 2 Vietnamese, the capital Vientiane has had 274 Covid-19 cases, mainly cases detected since April 20 and all related to patient number 59.
Notably, along with the increase in cases, the number of provinces with Covid-19 infections in Laos has also increased rapidly. On April 26, 5 more provinces in Laos officially recorded the outbreak, bringing the total number of provinces with cases in this country to 14 out of 18 provinces and cities nationwide.
Special,7 of these provinces border 9 provinces of Vietnam including: Son La, Dien Bien, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam, Kon Tum.
* Same day,Thailandrecorded 2,048 new cases, bringing the total number of Covid-19 cases in this country to 57,508, including 148 deaths. Of the new cases, 2,038 were community infections and 10 were imported.
Bangkok alone, the country's epidemic hotspot, recorded 901 new cases in the past 24 hours.
As of April 26, more than 31,500 Covid-19 patients in Thailand have recovered while more than 25,700 cases are still being treated.
The Thai government has applied strict anti-epidemic measures such as closing many crowded places, requiring the wearing of masks in public places in 48 provinces, and restricting entry for non-Thai passengers coming from India, the country that is the epicenter of the world's epidemic.