Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal has disclosed that both her parents, who live in India, were recently diagnosed with COVID-19 and hospitalised. Jayapal said her parents contracted the disease at the start of the current surge. They are now back home and recuperating, she added.
The first-ever Indian-American Congresswoman who represents Seattle in the US House of Representatives was recently in India to meet her ailing parents.
"It was rough. I've got to say both my parents are there. They're 80 and 90 years old. They were both diagnosed with COVID. They both ended up in the hospital. My dad needed oxygen," she told the media on Tuesday.
"Now in retrospect, I'm almost glad -- it's a strange thing to say that it happened when it did, because they were at the beginning of the surge. I'm not sure they could have gotten into the hospital or gotten oxygen had they not been. They are thankfully home and recuperating," Jayapal said.
"They've made it through the roughest time. And I think the fact that they got the first dose of the vaccine four weeks before actually helped to limit their symptoms. But we saw it happening," the Indian-American Congresswoman said. Jayapal said she was there in India with her parents as the cases started ramping up.
"I'm talking to my parents every day and I'm hearing, just the fear that everyone has because this is so extreme, it's coming so quickly. We pushed very hard to make sure, and we're grateful to the (US) President (Joe Biden) for making sure that we can get those raw materials (for the manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines in India) over there," she said.
Applauding Biden for his statement on India, Jayapal said those things are going to start happening right away. The CDC is also sending a team to assist India. "That is immediate because there are no hospital beds. I saw it just in my little area, that hospital was completely full," she said.
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