Indian mum-of-two, 35, with Covid suffocates in hospital car park while waiting for a bed as daily deaths hit 3,500
A MUM suffering from coronavirus died after suffocating in an Indian hospital car park after desperately waiting for three hours for a bed amid the country’s spiralling Covid crisis.
Jagriti Gupta, 35, laid helpless, gasping for breath, in a car outside the state-run GIMS hospital in Noida, as pals begged staff for treatment.
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But authorities were unable to attend to Gupta, an engineer because the hospital had been overwhelmed.
India became the first in the world to record 400,000 daily cases overnight.
One witness told NDTV: "I was standing right there as her (Jagriti Gupta's) landlord ran around, asking for help. But no one listened to him.
"Around 3.30 pm, she collapsed. When the landlord ran to the reception to report that she is no longer breathing, the staff rushed outside and declared her dead."
The country reported 3,500 deaths yesterday, bringing its total number of fatalities to almost 212,000.
Only Mexico, Brazil and the United States have recorded more.
In another indictment of the struggle faced by medics, a doctor shared a harrowing photo on social media showing him drenched in sweat.
Dr Sohil Makwana posted two startling photos - one of him dressed head-to-toe in PPE and another in a soaked shirt - as new cases in the country soared past 400,000 a day.
However, the dedicated medic was quick to point out he was "proud to serve" his country and help in the uphill battle to combat the spread of the killer virus.
He tweeted: "Talking on the behalf of all doctors and health workers.. we are really working hard away from our family.. sometimes a foot away from positive patient, sometimes an inch away from critically ill oldies."
The doctor then pleaded: "I request please go for vaccination.. it's (the) only solution! Stay safe."
His post was retweeted nearly 17,000 times and received more than 132,000 likes as of this morning.
It came as it was revealed a mum struck down with Covid died in a hospital car park after desperately waiting for three hours for a bed.
Jagriti Gupta was left struggling for breath in a car outside GIMS hospital in Noida as her friends begged staff for treatment.
However, medics were unable to attend to the 35-year-old engineer and she lost her fight for life.
One witness told NDTV: "I was standing right there as her (Jagriti Gupta's) landlord ran around, asking for help. But no one listened to him.
"Around 3:30 pm, she collapsed. When the landlord ran to the reception to report that she is no longer breathing, the staff rushed outside and declared her dead."
A further 401,993 cases were reported in the vast country earlier today - the first time the 400,000 mark has been surpassed.
There were also reportedly 4,331 new deaths in the previous 24 hours as hospitals were pushed to breaking point.
And some expert have worryingly claimed the true figures could be ten times higher.
Earlier a horror fire at a specialist Covid hospital in India killed at least 18 people as its virus crisis continues to spiral out of control.
The deadly blaze was sparked in the western state of Gujarat late on Friday night, in the hard-hit country's latest deadly hospital tragedy.
It started around midnight in the intensive care ward of the Patel Welfare Hospital - a designated pandemic facility - in Bharuch city.
"Sixteen patients and two staff members have died in the fire. Twelve of them died due to fire and smoke," said R.V. Chudasama, a superintendent of police in Bharuch.
"Preliminary investigation shows the fire was caused because of a short circuit."
Local news channels showed footage of a hospital ward completely destroyed in the fire.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet he was "pained by the loss of lives due to a fire at a hospital in Bharuch."
India's healthcare system is struggling to cope with the coronavirus crisis, which has killed 211,853 people and infected more than 19 million.
It now has the second highest total number of coronavirus infections in the world after the United States.
A dozen people were reported killed after another deadly fire in a hospital treating Covid patients in a suburb of Mumbai on April 23.
Earlier 22 patients died at a public hospital in Maharashtra where Mumbai is located when oxygen supplies ran out due to a leaking tank.
The latest tragedy comes as India prepares to start a new vaccination drive, despite some states warning they do not have enough doses to handle demand.
India is the world's largest producer of vaccines, but is still struggling to get supplies to its 1.4 billion population.
Modi hosted an emergency cabinet meeting on Friday, and it was announced today that all adults over 18 were to be vaccinated.
But some states have already said they will not be able to manage this due to a lack of supplies.
New Delhi's health minister, Satyender Jain, revealed the capital does not have the doses to vaccinate those aged 18 to 44 .
The city's chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, said: "We hope that we will get vaccines tomorrow or the day after ... I ask you to please not queue up at vaccination centres on Saturday."
The Sun Online has revealed how desperate Indians have been turning to witch doctors who brand them with hot irons to rid them of Covid.
Many have resort to the excruciating treatment as they believe Covid is an “evil spirit”, Ashita Rebecca Singh, doctor in the north west of Maharashtra state, revealed.
The country made it through the first wave of the pandemic when it went into a strict lockdown between March 25 and May 31, 2020.
After the lockdown was lifted, the country was hit by a wave of infections but hospitals were not overwhelmed.
Scared of the repercussions of economic shutdown - which weighed heavy on a system already struggling with poverty - India was allowed to proceed with everyday life.
One of India’s leading virologists, Dr Shahid Jameel, said: “We let our guard down. It was complacency.”
In March 2021, India was declared reopen.
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