The Covid pandemic is not past us. Many lives continue to be impacted by the disease and the economic slowdown it brought in its wake.
The pandemic that started having its impact in Bengal in early 2020 ravaged the state for more than two years. Till January this year, more than 21 lakh people in Bengal were affected by Covid and more than 21,000 died, according to the state health department.
But the numbers hardly reflect the actual impact.
“It is natural for everyone not to get impacted by the distress, panic and all-round insecurity that Covid had brought. But at the same time, we almost selfishly forget the dark silhouette that was in front of us. That darkness emanates from many stories of human sufferings, loss of lives and livelihoods that we should not forget so soon,” said Abhijit Chowdhury, public health expert who was at the forefront of Bengal’s fight against the pandemic.
“We keep talking about long Covid, the impact the virus could have on our body. But the term ‘long’ is too small a word to accommodate the deep scar that it left on individuals, on families and on society in general.”
The Telegraph spoke to three people whose lives went topsy-turvy because of Covid.
Forced to work
Mithu Samaddar was a homemaker before Covid and her husband Prashanta, 54, used to run a furniture store. He would earn around Rs 20,000 a month, which was barely enough to run his family.
The education of the couple’s son accounted for a major part of the family expenses.
“We would barely meet our expenses but did not have to borrow,” said Mithu, in her 40s.
Her husband contracted Covid and died at MR Bangur Superspeciality Hospital on May 31, 2021.
“It was so sudden that we were not prepared, mentally or financially. My husband did not have much savings. I was left alone to fight,” she said.
Mithu desperately searched for a job and finally got one at the front desk of a private clinic.
“I get Rs 8,000 every month, which is not enough to pay the rent, son’s school fees and utility bills,” she said.
Unable to meet the expenses, she and her son shifted from their Kudghat home to her parents’ house near Hazra.
“My son studies in ClassVI at a school in Tollygunge. He travels alone to school and back home. I can’t accompany him, nor can I afford a pool car,” she said.
Fall in income
A man in his 40s, who did not wish to be named, used to earn around Rs 800 every day selling vegetables from a mobile cart in Khardaha, on the northern fringes of Kolkata.
In the initial days of the pandemic in 2020, his daily income went up sharply to Rs 1,500 because of the lockdown and the raging fear of infection.
“There was no ban on selling vegetables (during the lockdown). Most people were not going to markets and they preferred buying from sellers like us who were going house to house,” he said.
However, soon he faced competition from hitherto unknown faces and his customer base and income started dwindling. Shrinking income opportunities, one of the direct impacts of the lockdown, prompted many people to switch to vending vegetables door to door.
Within a few weeks the man’s income went down to Rs 200 a day.
“My income has slightly improved since but it is still nowhere near the pre-Covid figure,” he said.
Now, the man earns around Rs 500 a day. Some of the new faces who took to selling vegetables during the lockdown are still doing so as they have not got their jobs back, he said.
Wait for job
Shyamal Halder, who lives on the southern fringes of Kolkata, cooked at a guest house in north Bengal before Covid struck.
“The guest house was closed after the pandemic started and he lost his job. He started doing odd jobs. Recently, he had gone to north Bengal to work at another guest house but learnt that the owner would not be able to pay him because of losses suffered during the pandemic,” said the man’s wife, who works as a domestic help.
Halder, in his 40s, is back to doing odd jobs and waiting for a proper employment.