Coronavirus lockdown leaves many of India’s elderly stranded without carers, family help
- India’s three-week lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 has made it impossible for many carers and family members to travel
- Community initiatives have been started to check on the elderly and deliver food and medicines to them
Her mother, 73, is a retired professor who lives alone in Kolkata and suffers from a chronic kidney condition that has flared up over the past week. Sarkar lives in Washington DC in the United States. Her mother has part-time help and a carer from an agency who comes in for 12-hour shifts.
Domestic flights and trains are also not operating, even the suburban trains that ferry millions of people into the cities for work. Buses are running at limited capacity in cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata, but police are restricting the movement of people.
Health workers are included under essential services but home care workers often lack this documentation, and many are fearful of the authorities after seeing images of the police beating people who are out on the streets.
