The first case of SARS-COV-2 was reported in India on January 30. The government of India announced a sudden lockdown with effect from midn...
The first case of SARS-COV-2 was reported in India on January 30. The government of India announced a sudden lockdown with effect from midnight on March 24. The clampdown on travel resulted in millions of migrant workers being trapped in cities. Faced with a loss of wages, separation from their families and a lack of food, lakhs of workers started walking or cycling hundreds of kilometres back home. Along the way, they face exhaustion, vehicular accidents and police action for violating the lockdown.
At least 10.4 million Indians left cities to return to their village homes, the government estimates.
But even when they got home, the migrants and their families faced great misery on account of the abrupt loss of wages, the lack of food, and the fear and stigma around Covid-19. Many people with illnesses were not able to access treatment because routine health services, public and private, were stopped or significantly reduced in scope because of the lockdown. It resulted in significant reduction in utilisation of even essential health services such as immunisation, detection and treatment of tuberculosis and continued care of cancer.
In weeks following the lockdown, it was expected that the misery would be short lived and would improve as “unlocking” progressed. However, as we...
