The Week: The Differently-abled, COVID-19's Silent Sufferers
Differently-abled People Are COVID-19’s Silent Sufferers
The Week, Suryaprabha Sadasivan, 11 November 2020
(Image courtesy of The Week)
The hard battle against the coronavirus pandemic continues even as India reported over 7.5 million cases and 1 million plus deaths as of October. Over the months, the Central and state governments have undertaken several measures to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19 and minimise the significant social and economic cost of this crisis. This pandemic has brought to the fore a ‘new normal’ which many of us are still struggling to cope with ? masks, social distancing, work from home, online education, among others.
Health experts across the world have emphasised on physical and mental health being key to resilience during this pandemic. However, in reality, COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerabilities of several communities and put them at high risk in the current situation. It has undoubtedly had a disproportionate impact on the differently-abled persons in India. As per the census of 2011, India has over 26 million differently-abled citizens, that is, 2.2 per cent of the Indian population. This segment of our population has struggled for suitable infrastructure, care and support from the government and society even when things were normal, so one can only imagine their battles linked to the pandemic response such as institutional barriers, societal limitations and behavioural changes.
