Meera Chopra: My cousins didn’t die of Covid, but lack of medical infrastructure

Actor Meera Chopra is mourning the loss of her close family members amid the second wave of Covid-19 crisis, and feels that the government has failed in saving lives.

Losing two of her family members in the past 10 days has left actor Meera Chopra sad, disappointed and angry. She blames lack of medical infrastructure in the country for cutting short their life, instead of coronavirus.

Actor Meera Chopra herself contracted the virus in April, and is on the road to recovery.

“I lost two very close cousins not because of Covid-19 but because the medical infrastructure has totally crumbled down. My first cousin couldn’t get an ICU bed in Bengaluru for almost two days, and the second one died after his oxygen dropped suddenly,” she shares.

Both her cousins were in their early 40’s, and their passing has left behind a deep scar. “It’s so sad and depressing that we couldn’t do anything to save them. I’m in a constant state of fear about what will happen next,” says an anxious Chopra, adding that it feels like “Every life is just slipping out of our hands. You try till your utmost capacity, but still you lose them”.

At the moment, the actor is feeling a sense of “helplessness and uselessness” and a lingering fear of losing “more closed ones”, something which she has never experienced before.

“The sense of anger is so high that for the first time I’m feeling that our country has gone to the dumps. We’re not supposed to arrange oxygen, injections and medicines and beds in the hospital. Government is supposed to do that for us. But it has failed in saving the lives of their own people,” rues Chopra.

Here, she points out that the lockdown was imposed last year “to build medical infrastructure so we could deal with the pandemic’’. And she’s obviously “frustrated” that nothing has been done, leading to crash of medical infrastructure with the rage of second wave of Covid.

The grief in her personal life as well as the one she stumbles upon through news and on social media, is taking a toll on Chopra’s emotional and mental well-being.

“Pregnant women are dying after delivering because of lack of oxygen. What life are we giving to this new born? The horrible stories I read on my Twitter feed. At times to keep my sanity, I feel I should be away from Twitter, but then I feel maybe I can help somebody by forwarding a message to a wider audience,” admits the actor for whom, it’s a constant battle to keep your sanity and to be out there to help people.

“I don’t even know what I’m feeling anymore. Two deaths in the last 10 days in the family has completely made me devoid of any hope,” she says, having battled the virus herself last month.

“My doctors started my medications despite my reports showing negative as I had all the symptoms. And I’ve never felt the way I felt when I was sick throughout my life. I’m much better now,” she shares.

As the country continues the fight against the virus, Chopra just wants people to take all the precautions, and not take it lightly. “Viruses have this tendency to come back stronger. We need to wear masks all the time, to avoid crowds for a long time. It is really not a joke! We are seeing deaths all around us,” she concludes.