Meera Chopra says she lost two of her cousins not to COVID-19 but to crumbling medical infrastructure

Actress Meera Chopra, who is Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ cousin, said in an interview to media sources that she lost two of her closest cousins not to COVID-19 but to the crumbling medical infrastructure in India. Both of them had been in their early 40’s.

Meera Chopra was quoted as saying, “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.”

According to media reports, their deaths had left Meera scarred, disappointed and angry. The actress also said she was constantly anxious about what will happen next and was worried about losing more loved ones. “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. Every life is just slipping out of our hands. You try till your utmost capacity, but still you lose them,” she told media sources.

The actress, who had also fallen sick last month, shared that she had tested negative but experienced all the symptoms of COVID-19. “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 explained.

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Moving on to talk about the current crisis with COVID-19 in India, Meera said that she felt our country has gone to the dumps for the first time. She said in the interview, “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.”

She also highlighted the fact that the lockdown was imposed in March 2020 “to build medical infrastructure so we could deal with the pandemic.” However, she said that is now “obviously frustrated” that nothing has been done, which resulted in excess pressure on the healthcare sector.

Talking about the strain on the other areas in healthcare that were not getting the attention required, Meera said in the interview, “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.”

Meera concluded by urging people to take all necessary precautions and not take the situation 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 was quoted as saying.