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Mumbai doctor recounts harrowing COVID-19 surge


Nepalnews
2021 Jun 17, 10:52, Mumbai
Dr. Kedar Toraskar talking to his family Photo: AP

Dr. Kedar Toraskar hasn’t been able to sleep much over the last few months. His mind would constantly turn to the young COVID-19 patients fighting for their lives in the ICU ward he oversees at Wockhardt Hospital in the western Indian city of Mumbai.

The recent coronavirus surge in India affected young people on a scale his team of critical care doctors hadn’t previously seen, Toraskar said. “We saw a lot of deaths, a lot of young people who succumbed to the disease,” he said. “It was really, truly very depressing.”


A nurse holds the light as Dr. Kedar Toraskar, head of critical care, center, operates on a COVID-19 patient at the Mumbai Central Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai, India, June 5, 2021.
Photo: AP
A nurse holds the light as Dr. Kedar Toraskar, head of critical care, center, operates on a COVID-19 patient at the Mumbai Central Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai, India, June 5, 2021. Photo: AP
The team of Dr. Kedar Toraskar, head of critical care, make preparations to operate on a COVID-19 patient at the Mumbai Central Wockhardt Hospital
Photo: AP
The team of Dr. Kedar Toraskar, head of critical care, make preparations to operate on a COVID-19 patient at the Mumbai Central Wockhardt Hospital Photo: AP

India is slowly emerging from the darkest days of the pandemic. After declining last year, cases began surging in March, surpassing 400,000 new infections per day in May. The impact was immediate -- hospitals were overwhelmed with patients struggling to breathe.

Demand for oxygen outran supply. Television news ran stories of patients dying on stretchers waiting outside hospital gates and dying at home before test results could even confirm they had caught the virus. The country’s health infrastructure collapsed.


Dr. Kedar Toraskar
Photo: AP
Dr. Kedar Toraskar Photo: AP
Dr. Kedar Toraskar and his team
Photo: AP
Dr. Kedar Toraskar and his team Photo: AP

New cases are now declining, but the toll wrought by the pandemic on doctors, nurses and other front-line workers is still emerging.

More than 700 doctors lost their lives in the latest surge, the Indian Medical Association said last week.

With more than 29 million cases, India has the second-highest number after the United States. Deaths exceed 379,000. Experts believe both numbers are undercounts.


The team of Dr. Kedar Toraskar, head of critical care, make preparations to operate on a COVID-19 patient at the Mumbai Central Wockhardt Hospital
Photo: AP
The team of Dr. Kedar Toraskar, head of critical care, make preparations to operate on a COVID-19 patient at the Mumbai Central Wockhardt Hospital Photo: AP
The team of Dr. Kedar Toraskar, head of critical care, make preparations to operate on a COVID-19 patient at the Mumbai Central Wockhardt Hospital
Photo: AP
The team of Dr. Kedar Toraskar, head of critical care, make preparations to operate on a COVID-19 patient at the Mumbai Central Wockhardt Hospital Photo: AP

Cases are now falling in Mumbai, once one of the hardest-hit areas, spurring authorities to slowly reopen the city of over 20 million.

But Toraskar and his team of ICU doctors are still drained from the incredibly challenging last few months. They worked 14 hours at a stretch on most days. At times, the hospital ran out of beds. “Some of our own relatives couldn’t get a bed in our ICU,” he said.


Dr. Kedar Toraskar
Photo: AP
Dr. Kedar Toraskar Photo: AP
Dr. Kedar Toraskar, center, head of critical care, checks the X-ray of a COVID-19 patient in the ICU ward
Photo: AP
Dr. Kedar Toraskar, center, head of critical care, checks the X-ray of a COVID-19 patient in the ICU ward Photo: AP

Yet along with deaths and tragedy, the latest barrage of infections helped destigmatize the virus, Toraskar said. Many Indians have feared getting tested or seeking treatment, worried they would be ostracized by their communities. But this is slowly changing. “People have realized just how difficult it is to be a COVID-19 patient and the hardships families face,” Toraskar said.

And while every death in their ICU left an indelible mark, so has every recovery. “That’s what keeps you going. And the hope that this pandemic is over soon,” he said.

Dr. Kedar Toraskar and his team
Photo: AP
Dr. Kedar Toraskar and his team Photo: AP
Dr. Kedar Toraskar with a COVID-19 patient
Dr. Kedar Toraskar with a COVID-19 patient
Dr. Kedar Toraskar with his wife
Photo: AP
Dr. Kedar Toraskar with his wife Photo: AP
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