1 Year of COVID in India: Heroes Recount The Year That Was

It’s been one year since the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in India.

Health care workers talk about trauma and triumph dealing with coronavirus in the past one year. 

(Photo Courtesy: FIT)

Video Editor: Ashutosh Bhardwaj

It’s been 1 year since the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in India.

“The year started with mayhem,” recalls Dr Kamna Kakkar, one of the healthcare heroes who worked for our safety through the pandemic.

“I don’t think it hit me how disastrous and unprecedented this thing was going to be until I came in contact with a patient who was positive and I was not wearing adequate gear to protect myself.”

Nikhil Dhimole, General Surgery Resident, JJ Hospital, Mumbai

30 January 2020 was when India saw its first COVID patient in Kerala. The pandemic had officially arrived on our shores.

Resident doctors jumped into action, donned their PPE kits and braved the overwhelming surge in cases amidst the failing hospital systems.”

“Wearing those PPEs for long hours where every dressing would take 30 minutes – this added to the dehydration. We did not eat food for 6-8 long hours and we were totally exhausted.”

Dr Harshil Shah, Resident Doctor at the Dept of Orthopaedics, Rustom Narsee Cooper Hospital

From the initial shock, the scramble for PPE and other equipment, staff strikes to burial troubles, this year has been one of trauma and resilience for our healthcare heroes.

Watch them tell you about the year that was, here.

(The article was first published in FIT and has been republished with permission)