Shilpa Jamkhandikar: India surges past 2 million coronavirus cases, angry health workers launch a strike
MUMBAI, India
(Reuters) - India, the country hardest hit in Asia by the coronavirus pandemic,
reported on Friday a record daily jump in infections, taking its total number
of cases over two million, as government struggled to contain the spread amid
striking health workers. More than 3.5 million
health workers, who have been the foot-soldiers in the Covid-19 detection
efforts across India, embarked on a two-day strike from Friday to secure better
wages and proper protective equipment.
“At least 100 health
workers have died of Covid-19 in the country so far, but there has been no
insurance provided to them by the government,” said A. R, Sindhu secretary of
the Centre of Trade Unions, a key participant in the ongoing strike. Accredited Social
Health Activists or ASHA workers, are the government’s recognised health
workers who are usually the first point of contact in economically deprived
sections, where there is limited or no direct access to health-care facilities. They have been
conducting door-to-door checks to trace Covid-19 patients.
A total of 10 unions
representing the workers, who also include ambulance drivers and cooks at
community centers, joined the strike. A majority of them work on contracts with
state governments at a monthly salary of about 3,000 Indian rupees ($40.02). “In some places, we
had a lot of difficulty reaching households, especially in the mountainous
regions... Households would be very far apart and we had to get to each of them
on foot,” Nagalakshmi D, a union leader of ASHA workers in the southern state
of Karnataka told Reuters. “During rains, we had
to cross rivers by boat and rope bridges too,”she said.
With infections
spreading further to smaller towns and rural areas, experts say the epidemic in
India is likely to be months away from hitting its peak, putting more strain on
an already overburdened healthcare system in a nation of 1.3 billion people…
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-india/india-surges-past-2-million-coronavirus-cases-angry-health-workers-launch-a-strike-idUSKCN2530GU
