As COVID Surges in India, South Asians in US Mobilize Aid

Entrepreneur Anil Joshi engages in a dismal ritual every morning just checking the internet for the latest coronavirus pandemic news from India from a laptop computer perched on the breakfast table in his suburban Chicago home.     "In my own family — my cousin's family actually has four people — all four people got infected," Joshi told VOA. "A childhood friend of my mine died actually."     In the past several weeks, seven members of Ashfaq Syed's extended family in the Indian city of Hyderabad have contracted the COVID-19 virus. He says all seven have since died.     "It is going crazy," says Syed, a Naperville Public Library Board trustee. "I've been getting messages every day of somebody passing away, especially from my family and friends and loved ones."     As the number of those infected with COVID-19 continues to surge in India, overwhelming the health care system in the country, many from South Asia now living in the United States have watched helplessly as friends and family members grapple with the virus — with many thousands dying daily because of a lack of oxygen. The World Health Organization said in a weekly report that India accounted for nearly half the coronavirus cases reported worldwide last week.  Tech solutions Joshi's company, IntelliH, is creating technology that could help during the crisis. Its product would allow medical professionals to remotely assess and monitor patients. He says he has a team of 35 employees in India developing the technology, but the virus is slowing down their work.     "In our own group, in the last three weeks, we have four people who are actually infected and not able to work," Joshi says. "Because their mom or dad got it first, and obviously Indian families are very closely knit families and they live together."     As infections rise, so does the need for supplies — and quickly.     "People need oxygen supply there," Joshi says. "People need medicines like remd