As COVID ravages country, infected journalist on death bed pens letter hoping science will rescue mankind

Even as the country grapples with an even more devastating and deadlier wave of COVID-19 than the last year, most people have no option but to survive on their own, with no help from the concerned authorities.

While thousands have died, millions have tested positive in just a few days as per official figures. However, the actual number of infections and deaths could be higher as the government may be fudging data, even as the mainstream media fails to hold it accountable.

Photographs and posts appearing on social media, however, show the reality: queues at graveyards and crematoriums, people dying on the roads, acute shortage of oxygen cylinders and life support system in most of the hospitals and drugs such as Remdesivir being sold in the black market.

Notably, the usually vocal Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have not uttered a single word so far on the crisis, both of them busy in election campaigning in West Bengal even as the masses continue to suffer.

The seriousness of the situation can be gauged from a letter penned by a Patna-based journalist – who has tested positive for the second time within eight months – to his friends, describing his helplessness and the apathy of the government towards its own people.

“The situation is not good. I have tested positive for the second time within eight months. I have maintained social distancing, used masks and sanitizers since the beginning…But what can you do if something (virus) breaks your (body’s) defence system,” wrote the journalist, who is in a critical condition.

As per his friends, it will be a miracle if he survives.

“This time it seems difficult to survive…CT scan revealed pneumonia, had severely infected both the lungs…The future depends on the wishes of God. If I have ever made any mistake, forgive me, considering I am (was) your friend,” wrote the journalist living under the shadow of death.

“This is perhaps the destiny…Life is momentary...Covid has added more uncertainty to it…Despite, I have a hope…I hope whenever the humankind will get over, it will be easier to curb / control pandemic in future. Only science will pave the way, providing lights through the passage of darkness. Not in condition to talk. Forgive me for my mistakes!” he wrote.

The letter can be read here:

Embed Letter