Indian-Americans are battling COVID-19 crisis over Zoom call to save their families

Avani Singh, a resident of Texas in the US, has been talking to her mother in New Jersey and uncle in India every night in the last few days over a Zoom call on how to keep her COVID-19 positive grandfather alive. KS Walia, aged 94, was in an emergency room in New Delhi but had to move elsewhere after a worker demanded a bribe of Rs 500. 

In the hospital where Walia is currently admitted in, they were told that they would need to find oxygen and remdesivir, a drug that helps COVID patients with their recovery, said Singh, according to The Washington Post. Before starting yet another hunt, Singh, 28, stayed up till 2 am browsing on Instagram for phone numbers of Indians, who might have medical oxygen, and getting no replies to it to a flurry of messages, reported The Washington Post.

Singh is one of many Americans who are struggling to help their coronavirus-stricken relatives in India. “There was a huge disconnect where I felt very angry that the world isn’t paying attention and would it be different if it was White bodies piling up on the streets?” said Singh. “How am I supposed to go about my normal day?” reported The Washington Post.

Also read | Lifesaving oxygen aid arrives in India as death toll hits new record

India is going through its worst phase of the pandemic, as the nation records total COVID-19 cases of almost 20 million of which almost 216,000 have died. India has been dealing with a crisis of supplying medical oxygen, vaccines, and other essentials to hospitals across the country. Meanwhile, India has also been receiving help from the international community, from as many as 17 countries with the supply of oxygen, vaccines among many other things. Some of the states are under strict COVID protocols while some others have announced complete lockdown.