COVID-19

Delhi has no COVID war room. But the capital had become the centre of attention in the fight against COVID-19 when on June 9th, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia estimated that Delhi, groaning under an acute shortage of hospital beds, would need over 5.5 lakh beds by end July. A shocked public, the city administration, hospitals and even Union Home Minister Amit Shah stepped in. The BJP at the Centre and AAP in Delhi called a truce as they joined hands to deal with what was becoming a crisis in the capital. Their crisis management efforts finally yielded some positive results. At 10.25…

A few days after the nation-wide Lockdown began on 24 March, 33-year-old Anita Salve, heard a knock on her door.  Authorities from Jana Small Finance Bank arrived in Chembur’s P. L. Lokhande Marg, where Anita lives, demanding that she repay her personal loan of Rs. 40,000.   She called Yogini Pagare to seek advice. Yogini, another resident of the P L mohalla, fields about ten calls a week from women like Salve. She is associated with Nirdhar, a grassroots group that tackles various issues faced by women who live in the slums of Chembur and Govandi. Yogini asked Anita to put…

[This article is part of the Bengaluru Moving series, in which citizens share their vision for BMTC post COVID. The series is published in collaboration with Radio Active’s #BengaluruMoving campaign.] Since the time I moved to Bengaluru almost a decade back, I have found a loyal companion in the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transportation Corporation (BMTC) bus. BMTC's extensive bus network has helped me and 36 lakh other commuters reach our destinations across the city every day.  Today, public transport has become one of the prime casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic. At present, only 4,300 BMTC buses are operating, down from the…

As Tamil Nadu went into a total lockdown on March 24th, many individuals in the city found themselves helpless and in dire need of assistance. From migrant workers looking to get back to their hometowns to senior citizens who resided by themselves, the lockdown impacted scores. The situation would have been several times worse had not NGOs, civil society organisations and some individuals taken it upon themselves to come to the aid of those affected. Thus, when a migrant worker stuck in Chennai with his family and twins, just a few months old, ran out of milk and supplies for…

[This article is part of the Bengaluru Moving series, in which citizens share their vision for BMTC post COVID. The series is published in collaboration with Radio Active’s #BengaluruMoving campaign.] The COVID crisis has forced behavioural changes in Indian society that would never have happened in the normal course. It has also taught us three important lessons. The first: Put a pause on our pre-Covid modern lives, and suddenly distant mountains become visible, rivers flow cleaner and hard-to-spot wild animals are seen walking through human habitation.  The second: The scale of inequity and lack of a support net for a…

Wearing Bluetooth earbuds and facing a mobile screen Gowri Gnanasambanthan strains to hold a forearm plank. Her instructor joins in on a WhatsApp video call, teaching her the right way of doing it.  Ever since the lockdown in March, Gowri's apartment terrace has become her gym. “I can’t work out alone.  I have a WhatsApp group with a close circle of friends where we share videos, take on challenges and work out together. My husband is my workout partner. This motivates me a lot," she says. Gowri has not let stress and boredom inflicted by the lockdown disrupt her fitness…

A recent (2019) survey of mobility practices among India’s urban population by the New-Delhi based Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) found that 37% of respondents used public transport more than once a week. A vast majority of the people travel distances less than 10 km for work and education, and walking continues to be the most dominant mode of transport for urban India.  The study, which captured all the modes used by individuals in a week, revealed that two wheelers were the second most preferred mode of transport, followed by public transport. Strikingly, the share of people relying…

On March 18th, Chennai reported its first COVID case, that of a 20-year-old man who reached the city from New Delhi in a train. Fast forward by a little over four months, and the city has seen a total of 1,07,109 cases, with 11,720 active cases at present (figures as on August 7th). Due to two major clusters -- the returnees of Tablighi Jamaat congregation and Koyambedu market -- the city recorded thousands of cases in April and May. The good news, however, is that from reporting 3,000 odd cases every day, the city now records about 1,200 odd cases…

Ever since COVID-19 took over our lives, we have all been looking for ways by which we can save ourselves from getting the virus. Face masks and shields, hand hygiene – washing and sanitising, social distancing – avoiding people and staying home. A COVID-19 Viewpoint report by the University of Minnesota (30th April 2020) says, "we must be prepared for at least another 18 to 24 months of significant COVID-19 activity, with hot spots popping up periodically in diverse geographic areas. The report also says that given the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2, 60% to 70% of the population may need to be immune to…

Sultana Shaikh Akbar, 42, was the first to be informed when an elderly woman in her neighbourhood of Agarwal Wadi in Wadala, developed a fever. Sultana coordinated with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to get the patient admitted to a hospital. But soon after, another woman started complaining of breathlessness.   Sultana has had no time to waste the past couple of months. She has juggled caring for and hospitalising patients suspected of having the virus. In addition, she manages door-to-door ration distribution in her neighbourhood. “A lot had to be done,” she says, “some of us had ration cards and…