India Facing ‘Human Catastrophe’; Surge Spreads To Nepal

Reuters: In COVID-Hit India, A 26-Year-Old Doctor Decides Who Lives And Who Dies 
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. (Pal, 5/5)

The Boston Globe: Local Indian Executives Rally To Send Badly Needed Medical Equipment To COVID-Ravaged Country
As a devastating second wave of COVID-19 infections began to hit India, Dr. Naresh Ramarajan knew what the country would need: portable oxygen concentrators. Ramarajan, an emergency room physician and health-tech entrepreneur in Cambridge, saw firsthand how the equipment — which increases the oxygen level in room air and feeds it to patients through tubes attached to their nostrils — saved lives during the second wave in Los Angeles, where he trained and has on occasion returned to help. The concentrators, which can be used at home, allow hospitals to free up beds for the sickest patients. (Leung and Edelman, 5/4)

Reuters: 'Human Catastrophe' As India's COVID-19 Surge Spreads To Nepal 
Nepal is being overwhelmed by a COVID-19 surge as India's outbreak spreads across South Asia, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Wednesday. ... Nepal is now recording 57 times as many cases as a month ago, with 44% of tests now coming back positive, the statement said. Nepalese towns near the Indian border could not cope with the growing number of people needing treatment, while only 1% of the country's population was fully vaccinated. (5/5)

Also —

CNN: Companies Scramble To Protect Their Workers From India's Covid Surge 
Big banks and accounting firms do most of their business in New York, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo. But they wouldn't be able to function without their back offices, many of which are located in Covid-stricken India. Financial services firms have outsourced a huge number of information technology and operations jobs to India in recent decades, attracted by an educated workforce and cheaper labor costs. Almost 4.4 million people in the country are employed in IT and business process management, according to the National Association of Software and Service Companies, a trade body. (Ziady and Tappe, 5/5)

Reuters: COVID Scare At G7 Meeting After Indian Delegates Test Positive 
India’s entire delegation to the Group of Seven summit in London is self-isolating after two of its members tested positive for COVID-19, the British government said on Wednesday. "Two delegates tested positive so the entire delegation is now self isolating," a British official said. "The meeting had been enabled by a strict set of COVID protocols, including daily testing of all delegates," the British official said. (James and Bruce, 5/5)