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Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh – Rica Gupta believes that if her father received treatment earlier, her father would still be alive.
The 17-year-old recently graduated from high school and lives in the village of Sultanpur Kheda, a village of approximately 6,000 people, about 11 miles from the city of Rae Bareli and about 385 miles southeast of the Indian capital of New Delhi.
Her 47-year-old father, Awadhesh Gupta, used to be healthy but passed away on April 27 – Richa believes he came from COVID-19. However, since he has never been tested for the virus, no one can be completely sure.
She said: “My father is perfectly healthy and in good health.” But on the night of April 16, he experienced an increase in body temperature. “He started coughing the next day,” Richard recalled.
She said that he bought some medicine from the local pharmacy, but it didn’t work. “His body temperature keeps rising.”
According to Richa, her father consulted the local “quack doctor”, an unregistered “doctor” who villagers often went to to save time because public health services were remote and overcrowded. These doctors are not officially licensed, but in rural areas of India, people often rely on them. Richard said that the “doctor” prescribed more medicine and added: “He took it for two days, but there was no effect.”
On April 22, Awadhesh went to a private hospital in Rae Bareli, but was told to go to a government hospital in the city because he had COVID-like symptoms. There, the doctor prescribed more medicine for him and advised him to stay at home for isolation.
Richa cried because she explained that he had not been tested for COVID-19 in the hospital. But she was certain that the virus killed him.
Awadhesh started experiencing breathing difficulties on April 24, and on the advice of a doctor’s friend, he performed a CT scan in a private laboratory in Rae Bareli. “After that, we learned that my father’s lungs were severely infected, [we were sure] He has COVID,” Richa explained.
“The CT scan reported that one lung of my father was completely damaged, while the other lung was 50% damaged. My internal father immediately sent him to the district hospital, where he was transferred to Largany (Lal Ganj) L2 hospital dedicated to COVID [around 20 miles from Rae Bareli city].
“My father was admitted to the hospital on April 25, but he did not receive any other treatment except for oxygen supply equipment. He was pronounced dead on April 27,” she said.
As his family determined that he had COVID, Awadhesh’s death was recorded as a COVID death. However, in many cases where patients have not been tested for COVID, the authorities attribute their deaths to “unknown” or “natural” causes or “comorbidities” (underlying health conditions).
Richa believes she knows when and where her father contracted COVID.
She said: “I am pretty sure that my father was infected when he went out to vote for the Panchayat (village council) election.”
The village committee elections in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, were held on four non-consecutive days in April-the first day was April 15, when Awadhesh voted. Some people criticized the failure to strengthen social distancing and wearing masks during election campaigns and voting.
The home of Awadhesh Kumar Gupta, who died on April 27 [Saurabh Sharma/Al Jazeera]“Mysterious Fever”
Vinod Tiwari was the leader of the village (or K Pradham) until he took office in the most recent election. He said he heard that 12 people had died in the village in the past three weeks, but only two have died from COVID-19 on record.
“Not all deaths in the village are [officially] “Because of COVID-19,” he said. “Two people from the village died of COVID-positive in the hospital, while the other two or three had COVID-like symptoms.The cause of the death of others is not clear, but people say they are patients with comorbidities [those with underlying health issues]. “
Others believe that the death toll is higher. Sudeep Shukla, a farmer from the village, has been keeping an informal record of each deceased. In the past three weeks, he set this number at 18. He said that everyone was sick, but he did not take any measures to solve this “mysterious fever” that is constantly living and dying. He determined that it was COVID-19.
“Cousin is sick. The neighbor is sick. The guy in the flour mill is sick. The grocery store owner is sick. The man across the street is sick. Everyone is sick. Everyone is coughing. So far, he died in three weeks. 18 people. In such a short period of time, we have never seen so many deaths. The death of the elderly seems to be normal, but the death of the middle-aged is abnormal. It should be over now. Enough fever And viruses,” Sudeep said.
Sudeep Shukla said 18 villagers died in the past three weeks [Saurabh Sharma/Al Jazeera]
Vinod Tiwari said that the villagers suspect that the increase in the death toll is related to the election of the village committee. He explained: “We have seen a lot of people in all activities related to the election, whether it is running for election, running for election, voting or even counting.”
“The aborigines of the village who lived in other cities came to the village to exercise their franchise rights. They traveled by public transportation without any screening or testing. God knows if they carry the virus, but soon people started death.”
The nearest state-run medical institution is the community health center in Jatua village, about six miles away. But it is not capable of handling complex situations like COVID. Those who showed symptoms will be sent to the government hospital in Rae Bareli city or the COVID-specific hospital in Lal Ganj where Awadhesh died. The head of the facility, Dr. BR Yadav, said it has 10 ventilators and 250 hospital beds, 112 of which are supported by oxygen. The director said that there are 15 doctors and 30 paramedics, enough to treat everyone.
A female patient, with the support of her children, was carrying an oxygen cylinder when her companion entered the COVID hospital in Lal Ganj, Rae Bareli district [Saurabh Sharma/Al Jazeera]
Small businesses such as grocery stores and agriculture make up the village’s main economy-the northern part of the village is mainly occupied by villagers composed of more privileged castes, while the west is the residence of members of the less privileged castes.
Locals said that this village was also home to three “quacks”, but now these three villages have “disappeared.” They believe that these unregistered doctors are in hiding for fear that COVID cases will lead to the arrival of health officials. The only pharmacy in the village has become a one-stop shop for villagers who seek immediate medical help for their COVID symptoms. It is owned by Manoj Verma, who is in his 30s.
“The state-owned facilities are not very useful because the villagers have developed the habit of visiting local doctors, but they are all unregistered doctors. Due to the pandemic and the surge in COVID-19 cases, these doctors have stopped checking patients, and now people come to me. The store bought medicine,” he explained.
“To buy medicine, [a] A prescription is necessary, but now people are asking about painkillers, aspirin, antibiotics, antiparasitics and other drugs. [a] No prescription is needed. I gave them a prescription, but warned him to see the doctor first and only take the medicine if the doctor recommends it. “
But Manoj said that he also witnessed another problem-“Even after experiencing severe symptoms such as shortness of breath, people are afraid to test themselves for COVID-19. [and] Coughing… because they think they might be avoided by society. “He explained.
Despite the surge in deaths, some villagers still did not wear masks [Saurabh Sharma/Al Jazeera]“They brought the virus”
The official information about the death toll in the village is messed up. When asked about the sharp increase in the death toll in the village, Anshika Dikshit, a district administrator based in Rae Bareli district, told Al Jazeera: “As far as I know, people have died, but not in the past two to three weeks, but in the past two to three weeks. In the last two months. Few people die from COVID, and the rest are natural deaths. In many cases, people suffer from comorbidities.”
However, Dr. Velendra Singh, the chief medical officer of the Ray Barrell area, told Al Jazeera by phone that he only knew that four to five people had died in the village, three of whom had died of COVID.
In the past month, many Indian states have imposed strict lockdown measures, while some other states have restricted sports and closed cinemas, restaurants, bars, schools, educational institutions and shopping malls.
A worker unloads oxygen cylinders at L2 hospital in Lal Ganj [Saurabh Sharma/Al Jazeera]
Brian Wahl, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, New Delhi’s International Health Department, said that the health infrastructure in rural India cannot cope with this surge.
“We know that in rural areas, access to quality services is facing challenges, and these areas are highly dependent on frontline health workers. We know that mass gatherings may become super-spreader activities.” He said.
Dr. Harjit Singh Bhatti, National Chairman of the Progressive Medicine and Scientist Forum (PMSF) in New Delhi, agreed.
“Before, people have been to cities in crisis, but now, watching the number of cases increase, they have nowhere to go. Sadly, we will never know how many people died and what their cause was,” he explain.
“In the previous wave, the Indian villages were safe, but this time it was due to the village council elections and the Kumbh Mela Festival. [which around 3.5 million people attended], COVID has reached the countryside. “
Batty believes that if a timely decision was made to postpone the election, this situation could have been avoided and many lives were saved.
“Elections strengthened democracy…. [But] People in big cities go to their villages to exercise privileges, and this virus spreads with them. Now we are seeing a large number of deaths. “He says.
“They say his breathing difficulties are asthma”
Meanwhile, in Sultanpur Kheda, another tragedy is unfolding. Across the street from the Gupta family, a middle-aged woman in a gray saree was crying under the thatched hut outside the two-story building. Her 12-year-old granddaughter tried to comfort her. When asked what was wrong, they fled back to the house.
But the woman’s son, 26-year-old Indrajeet Sahu, explained that his 52-year-old father, Ram Sajeevan Sahu, died on April 27.
“He fell ill after the village council election,” Indrayet explained.
“His temperature is very high. From April 23, he began to complain about breathing difficulties. Regarding his temperature, he took the medicine from the local pharmacy, but was advised to consult a doctor immediately.”
Indrajeet Sahu and his mother outside the house in the village [Saurabh Sharma/Al Jazeera]
On April 25, the family took Ram Sajeevan to the community health center in Jatua village. But the health center did not test him for COVID-family members say they don’t know why.
“The doctor prescribed medicine for him and said that breathing difficulties may be caused by asthma, so we took the medicine and went home.” The problem continued. We heard that there was no oxygen in other nearby hospitals. On the morning of April 27, he was in Passed away at home. “
He explained that his father used to help him run a street food truck, but now that he has passed away, Dragut must alone support the entire family financially.
“It’s very painful to see your father die in front of you. The more painful [thing is not being able to help him [in] Anyway. There is no oxygen in any hospital and the situation is very bad. Now that my father is gone, everything seems to be gone. “He said with tears.
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