Mumbai doctor in tearful appeal for people to wear masks: ‘Never seen anything like this’

India records close to 300,000 cases and 2,000 deaths in last 24 hours

Dr Trupti Gilada makes an emotional appeal to people in a viral video (Screengrab/YouTube)

A doctor in the Indian city of Mumbai fought back tears as she made an emotional appeal to people to wear face masks, saying she had “never seen anything like this” amid a surge in coronavirus infections.

Wearing her scrubs, Dr Trupti Gilada, an infectious diseases specialist, said: “I have never felt so helpless in my life.”

“We have to literally manage patients at home with oxygen and this is not something we are enjoying,” she said choking up with tears.

Dr Gilada’s distress call for people to wear masks and follow Covid-19 guidelines was an indication of the scale of the crisis that has hit India, which is suffering a second wave.

Hospitals in many Indian states with a heavy caseload are grappling with imminent shortages of oxygen, beds, medicines and doctors. India, the world’s second worst-hit country, continues to report record number of cases each day with no end in sight.

Dr Gilada warned people from becoming complacent, saying those who have already been infected once and recovered, or who have avoided the virus altogether, should not believe they are a “superhero”.

“We are seeing young patients ... a 35-year-old Covid patient is on ventilator and we are not able to help now. We don’t want anyone of you to be there,” she said, wiping away her tears.

She went on to list three steps people should take in the fight against Covid-19.

First, she said people should follow the rules regardless of their age. “We are seeing so many young people get infected ... and we can’t help them," she said.

Second, she said every person should wear a mask. Third, she appealed to people not to panic if they catch the virus and not rush to hospital immediately.

“There is no space at any hospital ... and the few beds we have we need for critically ill patients. First isolate yourself, get in touch with your doctor ... and let us decide," Dr Gilada said.

The doctor said that the situation in Mumbai, a state in worst-hit Maharashtra, is “bad” to the extent that the hospital’s ICU beds have long waiting lists, describing it as “a very helpless [situation]”.

On Wednesday, in Maharashtra’s Nashik city at least 22 coronavirus patients died at Zakir Husain Hospital after an oxygen tanker leaked, interrupting the supply, reported the Indian Express.

The authorities made frantic attempts to divert supply of jumbo and smaller cylinders for patients but the majority of them were dependent on the main storage tanker where the leak occurred.

On Tuesday, doctors from some of the biggest hospitals in Delhi issued a statement declaring the oxygen shortage so acute that “people will die”. The frantic call for help forced central government to divert oxygen trucks to Delhi at the last hour.

“In most hospitals in Delhi, oxygen is available for the next eight to 12 hours only,” deputy chief minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, said in a tweet on Tuesday.

“We have been demanding the quota of oxygen supply to Delhi to be increased, which the central government has to do. If the oxygen will not reach the Delhi hospitals in sufficient quantity by tomorrow morning, there will be an outcry.”

He released the list of 18 hospitals that were facing the most severe shortages.

Breaking its own records daily, India reported close to 300,000 Covid-19 cases in past 24 hours and death toll climbed above 2,000. “295,041 new cases were registered in the last 24 hours,” the health ministry said.

“Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 62,097. It is followed by Uttar Pradesh with 29,574 while Delhi reported 28,395 new cases,” it added.