COVID sick in India ‘go under trees to raise oxygen levels’

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IMAGE COPYRIGHT/ AFP/ Roshan Lal, 48, a villager with a breathing difficulty rests in a cot as he receives treatment at a makeshift open-air clinic, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Mewla Gopalgarh village, in Jewar district, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, May 16, 2021. Picture taken May 16, 2021. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

With no doctor or health facility in Mewla Gopalgarh in Uttar Pradesh state, villagers practise alternative medicine.

In a village in northern India engulfed by COVID-19, the sick lie on cots under a tree, glucose drips hanging from a branch. Cows graze all around, while syringes and empty medicine packets are strewn on the ground.

There is no doctor or health facility in Mewla Gopalgarh in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, a 90-minute drive from the national capital. There is a government hospital nearby but it has no available beds and the villagers say they cannot afford private clinics.

Instead, village practitioners of alternative medicine have set up an open-air clinic where they distribute glucose and other remedies to patients with symptoms of COVID-19.

Some believe lying under the neem tree, known for its medicinal properties, will raise their oxygen levels. There is no scientific basis for this belief or for some of the other remedies being offered.

“When people become breathless, they have to go under trees to raise their oxygen levels,” said Sanjay Singh, whose 74-year-old father died a few days ago after developing a fever. Singh said his father was not tested and died in two days.

“People are dying and there is nobody to look after us,” he said.

India’s devastating second wave of infections, which has brought even hospitals in big cities such as New Delhi to a breaking point, is ripping through the country’s vast rural hinterland where healthcare is threadbare.

In Mewla Gopalgarh, people have to make do as best they can. One woman borrowed an oxygen cylinder from a neighbour whose condition had improved slightly, her family said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, facing criticism for failing to prepare for the second wave, said in a speech last week that the pandemic was spreading fast in the villages and urged people not to ignore the symptoms.

“Get the test done, isolate yourself and start medication on time,” he said.

“Truth is, there has been no COVID-19 testing. We have tried but they told us they don’t have enough staff,” said 48-year old Yogesh Talan, a former headman of the village.

Harveer Singh, 65, a villager suffering from COVID-19 sits in a cot as he receives treatment at a makeshift open-air clinic. [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters]
IMAGE COPYRIGHT/ AFP/ Harveer Singh, 65, a villager suffering from COVID-19 sits in a cot as he receives treatment at a makeshift open-air clinic. [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters]
An infusion bag attached to a tree branch is seen at the makeshift open-air clinic. [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters]
IMAGE COPYRIGHT/ AFP/ An infusion bag attached to a tree branch is seen at the makeshift open-air clinic. [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters]
Family members sit next to the garlanded photograph of 74-year-old Rajendra Singh - who according to them died unable to access a hospital bed - at his home. [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters]
IMAGE COPYRIGHT/ AFP/ Family members sit next to the garlanded photograph of 74-year-old Rajendra Singh – who according to them died unable to access a hospital bed – at his home. [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters]
Villagers with breathing difficulties rest in cots as they receive treatment at the makeshift open-air clinic. [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters]
IMAGE COPYRIGHT/ AFP/ Villagers with breathing difficulties rest in cots as they receive treatment at the makeshift open-air clinic. [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters]
Syringes that were used to treat villagers with breathing difficulties seen at the village clinic. [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters]
IMAGE COPYRIGHT/ AFP/ Syringes that were used to treat villagers with breathing difficulties seen at the village clinic. [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters]
Dinesh Kumar, 32, fans his mother Chandravati Devi, 55, who suffers breathing difficulties, as she rests in a cot while receiving oxygen support at her home. [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters]
IMAGE COPYRIGHT / AFP/ Dinesh Kumar, 32, fans his mother Chandravati Devi, 55, who suffers breathing difficulties, as she rests in a cot while receiving oxygen support at her home. [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters]
Infusion bags and other medication that were used to treat villagers with breathing difficulties are seen at the makeshift open-air clinic. [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters]
IMAGE COPYRIGHT / AFP/ Infusion bags and other medication that were used to treat villagers with breathing difficulties are seen at the makeshift open-air clinic. [Danish Siddiqui/Reuters]

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA