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India turns to ex-army medics as COVID surge sparks calls for lockdown

India turns to ex-army medics as COVID surge sparks calls for lockdown

ABHIRUP ROY and AISHWARYA NAIR INDIA will recruit hundreds of former army medics to support its overwhelmed healthcare system, the defence ministry said yesterday, as the country grapples with record COVID-19 infections and deaths amid calls for a complete nationwide lockdown. Some 400 medical officers are expected to serve on contract for a maximum of 11 months, the ministry said in a press release, adding that other defence doctors had also been contacted for online consultations. COVID-19 cases and deaths have been hitting records every two or three days. Deaths rose by more than 4,000 for a second consecutive day…
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In COVID-hit India, a 26-year-old doctor decides who lives and who dies

In COVID-hit India, a 26-year-old doctor decides who lives and who dies

ALASDAIR PAL ROHAN Aggarwal is 26 years old. He doesn't even complete his medical training until next year. And yet, at one of the best hospitals in India, he is the doctor who must decide who will live and who will die when patients come to him gasping for breath, their family members begging for mercy. As India's healthcare system teeters on the verge of collapse during a brutal second wave of the novel coronavirus, Aggarwal makes those decisions during a 27-hour workday that includes a grim overnight shift in charge of the emergency room at his New Delhi hospital.…
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India’s COVID-19 daily cases stay near record, another state imposes lockdown

India’s COVID-19 daily cases stay near record, another state imposes lockdown

AFTAB AHMED INDIA’S new coronavirus cases dipped marginally on Sunday but deaths from COVID-19 jumped by a record 3,689, with one more state going into lockdown as the nation's creaky healthcare system is unable to cope with the massive caseload. Authorities reported 392,488 new cases in the previous 24 hours, pushing total cases to 19.56 million. So far, the virus has killed 215,542 people. India reported a record 401,993 new coronavirus cases on Saturday. Indian hospitals, morgues and crematoriums have been overwhelmed as the country has reported more than 300,000 daily cases for more than 10 days straight. Many families…
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‘People die at home’

‘People die at home’

A diabetic mother died as her daughter searched the capital of Ethiopia's northern Tigray region for insulin. Women gave birth unattended in the dark because their hospital had no electricity or staff at night. Accounts from residents, medical workers and humanitarian groups illustrate people's plight as Ethiopia struggles to revive a heavily damaged healthcare system in Tigray three months after fighting erupted between the military and the region's former ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). Some hospitals are barely functioning, with no water, electricity or food, they said. Most were looted of medicines; staff members fled. "The health…
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COVID-19 exposes weaknesses in Kenya’s healthcare system. And what can be done

COVID-19 exposes weaknesses in Kenya’s healthcare system. And what can be done

THERE are reports that Kenya’s hospital beds are filling up because of a surge in COVID-19 patients. This highlights concerns since the start of the pandemic, that the health systems of many African countries would quickly become overwhelmed. Moina Spooner from The Conversation Africa asked Professors Abdu Mohiddin and Marleen Temmerman to explain what must be done. ABDU MOHIDDIN, Assistant Professor, Aga Khan University MARLEEN TEMMERMAN, Director of the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (OB/GYN), Aga Khan University What are the major deficiencies in Kenya’s healthcare system? Kenya’s…
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U.S. COVID-19 hospitalizations rise by nearly 50% in 2 weeks, ushering in new shutdowns

U.S. COVID-19 hospitalizations rise by nearly 50% in 2 weeks, ushering in new shutdowns

ANURAG MAAN and GABRIELLA BORTER THE number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States has jumped nearly 50% in the last 14 days, straining the nation's healthcare system and forcing states to impose new restrictions to curb the alarming spread of the coronavirus. Nearly 79,000 people in the United States were hospitalized with the virus on Thursday, a Reuters tally shows, the most at any time during the pandemic, following sharp rises in infection rates around the country and particularly the Midwest. New social restrictions aimed at slowing community spread and lowering the infection rate were taking effect…
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