The capriciousness of memory!!! It was only four years ago, yet it is difficult to recall the Covid 19 days. They seem so unreal. Did we really go through them? Such extreme isolation. The excessive loss of friends and family members. The fear for one’s life and fear for the lives of loved ones. Fear of the unknown and great uncertainty about everything. It seemed as though our lives had come to a standstill, and we wondered whether we would ever get back to the normal routine. But, looking back at it now, it appears as if we had only hit the pause button, and life is back on its usual track. However, leaving behind an exacerbation of several negative and social trends: more inequality, more poverty, more unemployment, and yes, poorer health status.
The WHO declared the spread of Covid 19 to be a pandemic on 11 March 2020. India declared a nation-wide lockdown beginning from 23 March 2024. Both deserve to be called anniversaries. And being a death anniversary for an event that led to an estimated 7 million deaths (at least), it is time for a sober reflection.
Throughout the pandemic, from 15 March 2020, when the first of the papers (1) were circulated online, people’s science movements and people’s health movements brought out a series of situation analysis papers and policy briefs (2) that provided civil society of an understanding of the tsunami that had overtaken it. These policy briefs, at its peak had over a 100 activists and public health experts, formally or informally, contributing to it. These briefs were widely read and influential even within the media and bureaucracy, where it provided an alternative source of information and thinking about the pandemic and the state response to it.