Dr Deepak Kumar died after contracting the coronavirus from a patient. He's not alone. It has led an Indian medical association to raise the alarm about the dangers facing healthcare workers in some regions after calculating doctors in Bihar were dying at nine times the national average.
India's Government has consistently pointed out that the country's mortality rate is significantly lower than Brazil, the United States and many European nations.
It was always primed for disaster. The state had fewer than 40 doctors per 100,000 people, compared with 90 for India overall and 250 in the United States.As well as a shortage of doctors, personal protective equipment was in such short supply in the initial months that one doctor the ABC spoke with made her own using a plastic car cover.
Dr Singh said the fear of contracting the virus and spreading it to family members has become emotionally draining."Also, you come to know about your relatives who got infected.Dr Kumar Gaurav has had to have armed guards follow him amid the demand for healthcare during the pandemic. Bihar is now back in lockdown until the end of September, and the growing case numbers appear to have tapered off, for now at least.What's going on in India?
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