https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/11/india/india-covid-gujarat-village-intl-hnk/in...India's second wave is ravaging villages without hospitals or even doctors to fight it
Jeetu, the local pharmacist and volunteer medic, at the village of Chogath, Gujarat, on May 9.
By Esha Mitra, Sam Kiley, Sanjijv Talreja, Elizabeth Joseph and Jessie Yeung, CNN
Updated 1055 GMT (1855 HKT) May 11, 2021
Chogath, India (CNN)In the remote Indian village of Chogath, local pharmacist Jeetu has become the only source of medical help for people sick with Covid-19.
The country's second wave has devastated major cities and regional hubs, with hospitals running out of oxygen and medicine.
But in rural states and far-flung villages, doctors and clinics are in even shorter supply -- leaving residents to fight for their lives without access to care.
Chogath is a farming community in the western state of Gujarat, and home to roughly 7,400 people, according to the last census in 2011. Earlier this week, Jeetu told CNN there were around 500 to 600 cases of Covid in the village, while other residents report a spike in fatalities.
However, there isn't a single doctor or medic in the village, and the closest city is more than an hour away. There are clinics in some neighboring towns, but these small facilities are also out of beds and critical supplies.
With cases and deaths piling up, Jeetu, who only goes by one name, took up the role as volunteer medic, using his experience as a pharmacist to source oxygen and prescribe medicine.
"There's no one here -- no health center, no doctor, no nurse," he said. "There are no facilities in this village. So then I tackled it in the way I saw fit."
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