Coronavirus prep

1570571573575576747

Replies

  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    Gisel2015 wrote: »
    Psychgrrl wrote: »
    I read an article from Reuters today that said India was currently averaging almost one COVID death every four minutes. 💔

    This is heartbreaking. I know that they live in very tight and close conditions in some areas of the country, and that is what COVID likes. Easy and total spread.

    Drone images of mass cremations as India battles Covid-19
    With a rising death toll in a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, authorities in India have been forced to hold mass cremations at makeshift sites. The country has seen more than 16 million confirmed cases since the pandemic began.
    Source: CNN

    https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2021/04/23/covid-cremations-india-jba-lon-orig.cnn

    Area wise, the size of the US is much bigger than India. Population of India is almost one billion more than the US. Even though India’s cases are spiking now, the US has had almost twice as many cases, and almost twice as many deaths, as India.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    edited April 2021
    My sister watches all the local news. I don't. She said Covid cases have increased 20% in our area. :( WTH? Mostly in younger people and children.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,668 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »

    I have no opinion on US vs IndIa cases, but the worst period for US cases was one when testing was inadequate, A much better comparison between countries is deaths. US deaths in spring 2020 were terrible.

    A lot of the early deaths were elderly people, especially those in nursing homes who were very vulnerable due to coexisting disease and/or age. In some places 2/3 of the deaths were from nursing homes in those early months. I had no idea there were so many people in PA who were over 100 until I looked at the list of those of that age who had died of/with Covid. That isn't the case now, especially in places like India and Brazil.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    edited April 2021
    jenilla1 wrote: »
    Gisel2015 wrote: »
    @missysippy930

    I understand that infections and deaths in a pandemic are always reported in relation to areas. I am referring to the human aspect of the situation, which is something that sometimes we fail to recognize and feel for, and not to statistics. I think that we are getting totally numb to human suffering and despair. For some people it may work, but not for me.

    To my recollection, we didn't see in the continental USA, cremations "at makeshift sites" that can be seen from the air. The same type of images were reported from Brazil.

    When hospitals, morgues, and crematories were overburden at the height of the pandemic in USA, the states or counties provided refrigerator trucks to keep the deceased until a proper burial could be arranged. I can’t imagen not being able to see and be with a dying loved one in a hospital, and then see their bodies being cremated in open fields. Last night in the news it was reported that sometimes the cremations took place in back yards as well. Very sad, and not over yet.

    A couple of years ago, I saw a documentary that covered funerary practices in various parts of the world. (Pre-COVID.) Outdoor, open-air cremations are standard practice in India. The cremation sites I saw in that link look similar to the ones I saw in the documentary. You could see those from the air as well. In the highly populated areas especially, the cremation sites are large and they are burning bodies 24/7. There is a caste of people who basically are born into the trade, and it's a dirty, unhealthy job. And the types of fuels used depend on how much the family can pay - some burn better than others, and do a quicker, cleaner job, etc. Poor people just get burned in a pile together. Seeing a loved one cremated on a pyre of wood outdoors would not be especially traumatic in India. That's a normal cultural practice. Don't let it upset you.

    What IS traumatic is that there are so many dying so quickly, there are more young people dying than normal (probably the more aggressive variants) and people are suffering miserably because there is no oxygen to keep them comfortable and support the lungs.


    ETA: Found this interesting little tidbit regarding the funerals. DO NOT READ if you are sensitive. I personally find this kind of thing fascinating.

    After cremation, ashes and bones are scattered in the sacred Ganges River. (George Harrison and Jerry Garcia's remains went in there, too.) They were having trouble with disease spreading back in the day when poor people (who couldn't afford cremation) just had their bodies tossed right in the river. So...
    "Today only bones and ashes are supposed to be scattered in the river. Even so the cremation process, especially among those who can not afford the large amount of wood needed to incinerate the entire body, leaves behind a lot of half burned body parts. To get rid of the body parts special snapping turtles are bred and released in the river that are taught to consume dead human flesh but not bother swimmers and bathers. These turtles consume about a pound of flesh a day and can reach a size of 70 pounds."

    Was going to say the same... open-air cremations are not a Covid thing because of large numbers of deaths. It's just what some Indians do.

    BTW, remember the mass graves in NYC for unclaimed bodies? We saw the aerial photos of that... and that isn't common in the U.S., but they couldn't hold bodies for long and had to make room. Many cities and states got refrigerated truck trailers after that to be ready for a higher body inventory, but this was NYC during the early spike that caught them unprepared.

    ETA: It is common for the city/state to bury unclaimed bodies, but not in such numbers and usually the bodies are held longer.