India has been battered by a second deadly wave of COVID-19, and Indian Americans are mobilizing in Connecticut to try and help save lives.
For the past 10 days Dr. Sushil Gupta’s sister and nephew have been in the ICU in India after contracting COVID-19.
“Three days ago somebody with the same name died of COVID-19, and the physician working in that hospital didn’t verify the name properly and texted me that ‘I’m sorry to inform you that your nephew has died,’” said Gupta, who is also the president of Connecticut Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, or CAPI.
Gupta soon found out his nephew was still on oxygen but alive.
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Millions of cases are straining and breaking India’s health care system, and here in the U.S., Indian Americans are mobilizing to help.
“We are definitely worried. We definitely are hoping and praying for the best, but we’re not sitting on our feet and hands either,” said Dr. Prasad Srinivasan, who is a member of CAPI and practices medicine at Allergy Associates of Hartford.
Srinivasan’s parents and sister are in India and healthy, but he dreads looking at his phone every day. He says he worries there could be news that family or friends are ill or worse. He and many others are working together to raise money and get supplies to where it’s needed most.
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“Every little penny, every dollar will add up to sending more of these oxygen concentrators, which is what we need most in India right now,” said Dr. Srinivasan.
“Obviously it is quite sad and upsetting when people are dying because of a lack of medication, lack of oxygen, lack of hospital facility,” said Gupta.
Gupta says in a matter of days, CAPI has raised around $30,000. They’re hoping to raise even more. He says all the money will go to a local rotary club in India to help bring oxygen concentrators, PPE, and other critical items to the sick. Gupta says they’re also providing telemedicine to assist fellow physicians in India.
“How to deal with the complications and how we can share our expertise and our experience to treat our patients back home in a safer and better way and avoid the mortality,” said Gupta.
As the number of dead and sick continue to rise, they hope the efforts in the U.S. can make a difference and save lives.
If you would like more information about CAPI or would like to donate to CAPI, you can head here: https://capionline.com/
