Covid-19 in India: faced with the oxygen shortage, a black market is setting up
Audio 01:18
A healthcare worker holds an oxygen cylinder outside a factory while waiting to be refilled, in New Delhi, India, April 28, 2021. © REUTERS / Adnan Abidi
Text by: RFI Follow
8 mins
India continues to fight the surge in Covid-19 cases.
The country broke a new world record, with 362,000 cases in 24 hours, for 3,200 deaths.
Many are dying because hospitals cannot get enough oxygen.
And faced with this shortage, a black market is developing.
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With our correspondent in New Delhi,
Sébastien Farcis
Mukesh Kashyap is devastated.
For hours, this man searched everywhere for oxygen for his wife, who was sick with Covid.
He went to many hospitals in New Delhi, but none were able to accept his dying wife because they were out of oxygen.
His wife eventually died.
And it was then that he understood where this famous oxygen was.
“
There are a lot of middlemen who are making money by taking advantage of this shortage,
” he says.
5 hours ago my brother told me that a man was selling oxygen outside the private Apollo hospital.
The hospital does not have any more, but someone in front of the hospital sells it.
It's horrible.
"
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A real black market has emerged for two weeks, taking advantage of shortages of oxygen and specialized drugs against Covid, such as Remdesivir.
Police in the capital announced on Tuesday that they had arrested three of the traffickers: one was the director of an intensive care unit at a hospital, while the other was a supplier of medical equipment.
They were selling a large oxygen cylinder for 550 euros, more than five times the price.
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I have to take care of 15 to 20 patients on my own. At the moment, due to the oxygen shortage, many patients are dying because we do not have enough oxygen in our hospital. I had barely arrived at work this morning when a patient died in front of me because we did not have enough oxygen to save him. Every day I see 6 to 7 patients die in front of me. We have no more beds in our hospital. I see people waiting for hours, even days to try to get a place. It is very difficult for me and my colleagues. We are very tired. We give so much to help all patients. But we have no recognition. First, our salaries are very low. I earn 300 euros per month and for 1 year, 7% of my salary has not been paid because of the economic crisis.And the hospital is 3 months behind our salaries. We don't feel like we are being respected.
Tanisha, nurse in the Covid unit of a private hospital in New Delhi
Sophia khatsenkova
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