The Terrible Toll of Indiaâs Second COVID-19 Wave
After decades of refusing to invest in health care, the Indian government has left many rural communities with few options to control the virusâs spread.
Pushpa Toraskar, whose mother-in-law was hospitalized with COVID-19 in April 2021, was told she had to pay a $2,070 hospital bill within twenty-four hours. A few hours later, she got another call from the hospital, informing her that her mother-in-law, Parvati, had died from the virus. âWe couldnât claim the body till the dues were cleared,â Toraskar told me, teary-eyed.Â
As of June 3, India had reported more than twenty-eight million COVID-19 cases and 338,013 deathsânumbers that understate the enormous level of loss that has affected millions of people and entire communities.Â
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Expert’s Take: Investing in lives and livelihoods of India’s women is crucial to nation’s full recovery
UN Women
Susan Ferguson. Photo: Yvonne Fafungian
Susan Ferguson is the UN Women Representative for India. Ms. Ferguson joined UN Women in 2017, after a long career in international development. She has lived and worked in South Africa, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, and has experience working in grass-roots development agencies; establishing and managing social services; working within Local, State and Federal Government in Australia on social policy and social programmes.
Thousands of Indians have been affected by the latest COVID-19 outbreak. Not only those suffering from the disease, but also those who care for them.