The stress of the COVID-19 wave raging across India has started to take its toll on the Batemans Bay Indian community as reports show a country succumbing to one of the worst waves of the pandemic.
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Kohlis Waterfront Indian Restaurant, sister restaurant to Kohlis in Nowra, co-owner Gagan Kohli said she felt very emotional and helpless about the situation.
"We're not there physically but we are there mentally, constantly thinking about everyone over there, our entire extended family," she said.
"This is a situation where it is really dire, it's not media hype, what you're seeing on television is happening and it's very scary."
Hospitals across the country are overwhelmed, oxygen stores are quickly running out and metro areas such as New Delhi and Mumbai have been hardest hit.
"My parents are in Bangalore and my husband's family is in Punjab, but we have extended family and friends in New Delhi," Ms Kohli said.
"A lot of people we know have had COVID-19 or have it at the moment and what's really scary is they're under-30, they're young, and the virus has badly affected their health.
"Luckily my parents and my husband's parents have had the vaccine but they are still staying indoors, as they have for the last year, as a precaution."
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India is now the country with the second-highest number of cases, at nearly 18 million, and hitting a record 362,960 daily cases.
Deaths are also increasing, with India's health ministry reporting a record 3,293 further deaths in 24 hours on Thursday, bringing the country's death toll to over 200,000.
We are there mentally, constantly thinking about everyone over there ...
- Gagan Kohli
Hospitals in India are struggling to keep up with the demand, with oxygen supplies to ventilators running out amid a nationwide shortage of the gas and a surge in infections.
"We've always been thankful that we live here, and we know how lucky we are in Australia to not be facing the same thing," Ms Kohli said.
As part of the Sikh faith, Ms Kohli said she had donated to Khalsa Aid an international NGO that provides humanitarian assistance wherever it is needed.
"It can feel really helpless being in Australia but donating to Khalsa Aid you know the funds will get where they need to be and it's a good way to help."