India’s coronavirus crisis saw a record 401,993 new cases on Saturday alone — a figure no other country has breached at any point in the pandemic. Delhi reported more than 20,000 new infections and 407 deaths on Sunday as healthcare workers turned to social media pleading for emergency oxygen supplies.
Dr. Gautam Singh, who runs the Shri Ram Singh Hospital in Delhi, took to Instagram last week to explain the severity of the situation on the ground. At the time of recording, he had 50 Covid beds and space for 16 ICU patients but was forced to refuse admissions as there was no guarantee of oxygen supply. This is a situation that is being seen all over India. "It's a battle we are fighting every day," he says. "Half of my hospital staff are on the road with cylinders to get them filled every day, going from one place to another."
According to The New York Times, official estimates of the nationwide infection toll are probably undercounted and the reported figure will most likely rise to 500,000 cases a day by August, potentially killing one million people. India's current population counts 1.4 billion people.
The situation is worse than anything we have seen so far and it requires global support to ease the burden on India's struggling health care system, connect patients with oxygen, and provide India's frontline workers with vaccines.
Below, we've outlined some places you can donate to ensure that your money reaches the people and services who needed it most.
Donate directly to groups in India
HelpNow is an ambulance network set up by students. The 24/7 logistics network helps transport COVID patients, medical workers, and life-saving medical supplies, including blood and organs. They are accepting donations on their Ketto page.
The Indian Red Cross Society has staff and volunteers running blood drives, delivering aid and medical supplies, and providing other essential services across the country.
Youth Feed India and Helping Hands Charitable Trust are delivering ration kits to vulnerable residents of Mumbai. Each kit includes staples like rice and dal that can feed a family of four for 15 days. Donate here.
FromU2Them is a Mumbai nonprofit raising money on Ketto to pay for food and medical supplies in the sprawling financial hub.
Khalsa Aid is a Sikh humanitarian organization that is currently accepting donations through their website for oxygen concentrators, which they are purchasing, shipping, and delivering throughout India.
Hemkunt Foundation is a non-government that provides humanitarian aid to marginalized sections of society. They've set up a “Seva” or service delivering oxygen to covid patients for free.
Nonfinancial ways to help
This publicly sourced Mutual Aid India resource offers a constantly updated database of charities and fundraisers you can share with your friends and family. Contributor Riddhi Dastidar recommends sharing the charities tagged in blue as they accepted foreign donations. She also recommends “tagging your fave celebrities [and] influencers, ask them to share, spam their comments bbs!"
Demand a People’s Vaccine
Over 170 former Heads of State and Government and Nobel laureates are calling on Joe Biden to urgently back a temporary waiver of WTO intellectual property rules for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. Vaccines are owned by Big Pharma giants that can’t produce enough for everyone fast enough, which means the world's richest countries have already bought most of the doses.
India and South Africa have tabled an emergency proposal at the World Trade Organisation to temporarily suspend the patents for Covid-19 vaccines and treatments until the end of the pandemic. This is one of, if not the most effective way to curb the spread of the devastating new variants. Share the campaign here.
Buy Prints
Photographer Nick Sethi is selling three prints to raise funds for oxygen concentrators in India. You can also opt to make a donation through the website.
Art For India is another online print sale raising urgent funds for India’s pandemic relief. Renowned artists from India and the diaspora have united around this current crisis in India, donating some of their most loved and striking imagery. Artists including Bharat Sikka, Prarthna Singh, Kalpesh Lathigra, Ashish Shah, and Avani Rai have all donated photographs for the sale. Prints are £100 (approximately $139) each, with 100 percent of proceeds (less printing and shipping cost) being donated to Mission Oxygen's appeal to help hospitals across the country get immediate access to oxygen concentrators.
