People are hoarding oxygen and vital medicines in homes in India, creating panic and causing shortages in hospitals treating critically ill Covid patients, senior Indian doctors have said.
India recorded another 352,991 new coronavirus cases on Monday, breaking its own global record for the fifth straight day, and 2,812 new deaths, its highest daily figure for fatalities.
In the week to 25 April, the country recorded a cumulative 89% increase in Covid deaths compared with the week before, and a total of 2.2 million new cases – the highest seven-day increase experienced anywhere in the world. Total confirmed infections have passed 17 million.
“Hoarding of injections like remdesivir and oxygen in homes is creating a panic and this hoarding is causing a shortage of these medicines,” said Dr Randeep Guleria, the director of India’s Institute of Medical Sciences, in a statement released by the ministry of health on Sunday night.
Guleria said most people should not need to be treated with oxygen and holding it in private homes could reduce availability for critical patients He emphasised, too, that Remdesivir was no “magic bullet”.
