India continues to struggle through the coronavirus pandemic, with a record 19.9 million cases now confirmed in the country and more than 218,000 deaths. On 30 April, the country reported over 400,000 cases in a 24-hour period, the highest since the pandemic began.
Hospitals are facing dwindling supplies of oxygen, beds and the antiretroviral drug remdesivir, while crematoriums and cemeteries have also buckled under the increased number of deaths.
Fr Michael Payyapilli VC, from Holy Family Parish Doveton, recently returned from India where he says the situation is heartbreaking. He shares that all of his friends and relatives have been affected in some way by COVID.
‘Many of them have lost immediate family members,’ said Fr Payyapilli. ‘The sad part being that they don’t have time to grieve over the one who has passed away as they are praying desperately for the rest in the family to just survive.’
‘Unlike the first wave, the second wave has been affecting whole families and not just one member. So it is leading to multiple deaths in the family. People are asking for hospital beds for their loved ones through [Facebook] posts,’ says Fr Payyapilli.
Fr Payyapilli shares that in the southwestern coastal state of Kerala, where the population is more than 33 million, the number of COVID cases has risen significantly. The medical facilities in Kerala however, are far more advanced than in other states of India, he says.
‘We have to thank the Catholic Church for that. The Church has been on the forefront of medical ministry for decades in the state of Kerala. But the situation in other states is really grim, with no oxygen, no hospital beds available, no ventilators and the medical staff extremely overworked.
‘All ICU wards are being turned into COVID ICU wards. A cousin of mine in Mumbai, who works as a nurse described the situation in her hospital as a “graveyard”.’
Fr Colin Xavier, Parish Priest of St Mark’s in Fawkner, recently spent time on mission in parts of Cambodia and Mumbai.
‘I was there [Mumbai] just before the lockdown last year. I came back on 31 January, the Feast of Don Bosco,’ he says. ‘It would be very hard to come back now.’
He continues to keep in touch with the local community in Mumbai through his Salesian networks. ‘It’s hard. In Mumbai, you have three to four people living in small shabby places and there are big slums and no social distancing. It’s so sad.’
Parish Priest of St Patrick’s in Murrumbeena, Fr John Siby, says he is keeping in regular contact with friends and family from Kerala as they struggle through the latest health crisis. ‘You can imagine the population... there are more people in Kerala than in Australia, just in that one state alone.’
‘Those who are affected need oxygen masks, medical equipment, PPE and ICU beds,’ he says.
Fr Siby says local organisations are doing all they can to support the country’s most vulnerable and encourages the Australian community to continue sending both prayers and donations to help alleviate the situation.
Donations can be made through Caritas Australia, which continues to work with Caritas India to provide support to the most marginalised and vulnerable through the Asia Emergency Appeal. Donate online or call 1800 024 413.
This article was last updated 3 May 2021.
