Patients Died in Parking Lots: "Billion Dollar" Measures in India

In the face of the widespread outbreak of the coronavirus in the country, the Reserve Bank of India announced on Wednesday the allocation of a budget of $6.7 billion to finance companies operating in the healthcare sector, including vaccines and hospitals. Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das stated that subsidized loans would be available until March 31 of next year, promising to resort to "unconventional" measures if the health situation deteriorates. His comments came as India reported a record number of deaths, totaling 3,780 within 24 hours, and 382,000 infections of COVID-19. He said, "We must keep pace with the devastating speed at which the virus affects various regions of the country through swift and extensive measures." He added, according to AFP, that the new measures aim to improve emergency healthcare at a time when hospitals are reporting severe shortages of oxygen, beds, and vaccines. Das pointed out that "the immediate goal is to save lives and restore normalcy by all possible means." The Indian healthcare system, which suffers from underfunding, has faced difficulties in coping with the recent wave of COVID, as patients died in hospital parking lots due to shortages of oxygen and beds. The country has been trying to recover from losses incurred by a stringent lockdown that lasted for months, leading to a collapse of the labor market and an economic contraction of about a quarter between April and June of last year.