India is currently gripped by a lethal second wave of Covid-19. With a record number of new cases and deaths escalating each day, this is a health catastrophe.
Frontline workers including those working in overwhelmed mortuaries and burial sites, and women domestic workers caring for people with the virus, are being left without access to protective equipment and exposed to infection.
Hospitals are overwhelmed and there are reports of oxygen shortages and insufficient numbers of hospital beds. The country has been struck by a newer more contagious variant of the virus. Across India there are frantic calls for help for beds, medicines, oxygen, essential drugs and tests.
ActionAid is on the ground working in 24 states across India to scale up an urgent response to the crisis, supporting the most vulnerable:
- Large-scale distribution of safety and sanitation kits, including protective items to vulnerable workers and communities
- Establish help desks to provide lifesaving information and connect people to health services
- Direct cash transfers for food and medical needs to the most vulnerable households
- Set up testing and vaccination centres
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