The World Health Organization had stopped describing Covid-19 as a public health emergency over a year ago. But important lessons concerning the pandemic continue to emerge three years after the coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan. A recent study conducted by Indian-origin researchers in the United Kingdom and the United States of America and published in the journal, Science Advances, has, among other revelations, pointed to possible errors in the official mortality figure released by the Government of India. There were about 1.19 million excess deaths in India — eight times the official count — in the first year of the pandemic, or so claims the study. Significantly, mortality figures were higher for marginalised groups and women, thereby reiterating the social and the gendered dimensions of the pandemic in India. The analysis has estimated that the life expectancy of Indian women declined by 3.1 years in contrast to men’s 2.1 years between 2019 and 2020. Interestingly, the global pattern was the opposite, with men having higher mortality rates than those of women. Furthermore, marginalised groups seem to have borne a heavier burden with the reduction of life expectancy being higher among Muslims, scheduled tribes and scheduled castes when compared to that among upper-caste Hindus. That the pandemic exacerbated the discrimination against and the suffering of disadvantaged groups and women should not come as a surprise. Gender and social minorities have had poorer access to healthcare owing to precarious finances and embedded prejudices. In fact, women were confronted with a double blow. Apart from diminished longevity, unpaid domestic labour and the emotional trauma attendant to care-giving — a task that men seldom share — accentuated the situation for Indian women. Additionally, there was the spectre of domestic abuse with data suggesting that violence against women rose 2.5 times during this period. On the social front, physical distancing, instituted as a precautionary measure, ended up deepening segregation against marginalised communities.

The findings, especially the one on Covid mortality, have, expectedly, been dismissed by the Union home ministry that has pointed out methodological infirmities. This is a pity since data from such credible studies — there have been others — could have been useful in understanding and identifying the limitations in India’s response to tackling the pandemic. This information, in turn, could have helped the nation prepare better for the next public health crisis of such magnitude.