UNICEF urgently requires $164 million to procure oxygen and testing supplies, medical equipment, personal protective equipment and infection prevention and control material to help save lives amid a deadly wave of COVID-19 across South Asia, according to a statement.
Terming that Bangladesh could face similar devastating surges, the statement said in almost all countries in the region, with the exception of the Maldives and Bhutan, fewer than 1 in 10 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
The region, home to almost 2.0 billion people, accounts for half of known new infections globally, the statement said, adding that over three new COVID-19 infections are being recorded every second.
Mortality in the region is rising sharply, with more than three people dying every minute due to coronavirus.
“The sheer scale and speed of this new surge of COVID-19 is outstripping countries’ abilities to provide life-saving treatment,” said George Laryea-Adjei, UNICEF regional director for South Asia.
“Hospitals are overwhelmed, there is an acute lack of oxygen and other critical medical supplies, and there is a real risk of fragile health systems collapsing,” George said.
During the first wave of the pandemic, an estimated 228,000 children and 11,000 mothers across South Asia died due to severe disruptions in essential health services.
“We’re now looking at a surge that is four times the size of the first. We need to do everything within our power to prevent and treat COVID-19, while keeping the critical health care services that children and mothers so heavily depend on running,” Laryea-Adjei said.
On 18 May, India recorded the highest number of daily deaths ever in the history of the COVID-19 pandemic: 4,529. Neighboring Nepal has experienced case positivity rates as high as 47 per cent; Sri Lanka and the Maldives are recording new highs in COVID-19 cases and deaths on a daily basis; and hospitals in the capital of the Maldives are reaching full capacity.
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bhutan could all face similar devastating surges. In almost all countries in the region, with the exception of the Maldives and Bhutan, fewer than 1 in 10 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19, as per the statement.
