COVID-19: Many Indian-American doctors in frontline make ultimate sacrifice

Indian-American Dr Madhvi Aya, who contracted the coronavirus in the line of duty in New York, the country's COVID-19 epicentre, could only exchange text messages with her husband and daughter from her hospital bed before she lost the battle to the deadly virus. The 61-year-old woman, who moved to the US along with her husband in 1994, was among the several Indian-American doctors in the frontline in the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"Aya's text messages and her family's account of her final days reveal a woman who spent much of her life devoted to medicine before succumbing to the cruel and familiar arc of a patient with COVID-19," reported Sun-Sentinel newspaper. Indian American community leaders say that quite a number of Indian American doctors have been infected during this once-in-a-century public health crisis. The number could be in several dozens and several of the Indian-American physicians have succumbed to coronavirus. A majority of them are said to be from New York and New Jersey.

Dr Rajat Gupta (name changed) was attending a coronavirus patient in the emergency room of a hospital in New Jersey early this month. A few moments later, the patient threw up. It hit his face with a force. Gupta fell ill and he tested positive for the coronavirus. Despite best efforts, doctors could not save his live, adding to the growing list of Indian-Americans who have died due to COVID-19. "It's hard to know the exact number of infected ones," Ravi Kolli, secretary of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), told PTI. "There are at least 10 (Indian American doctors) who are critically ill."