India’s 2nd Pandemic Wave Ravaged Remote Himalayan Slopes

When India was grappling with the pandemic last year, villages perched on Himalayan slopes remained in serene outposts, largely untouched. But the deadly second wave did not spare these far-flung regions.“Entire villages were infected. In fact, the virus reached places at over 2000 meters,” said Rakesh Prajapati, the Deputy Commissioner of Kangra. “Rural centers were badly hit this time.” Kangra is the largest district in the mountainous Himachal Pradesh state.Health experts blame a number of factors for India’s second wave. Among them are a more transmissible variant, super spreader events such as big public gatherings and laxity in following COVID protocols. In Himachal Pradesh too, public health experts have pointed to large wedding functions that were held in the days before infections spiraled.As health facilities were inundated, authorities scrambled to contain the infection. They used some unusual initiatives to spread the message about following COVID protocols — in village lanes, street artists in black costumes enacted the threat posed by the coronavirus if residents did not use masks or follow measures such as sanitizing hands. A strict lockdown was enforced with police handing out penalties to those violating norms such as social distancing.A local artist spreads the message about following COVID protocols in Kangra district in India’s Himachal Pradesh state.The second wave has ebbed in recent days with daily cases reducing significantly.But the severity of infections and death toll was much higher compared to the first wave, according to officials. “This time we got disproportionate number of cases compared to our hospital infrastructure. So, we had to raise the capacity of our hospital beds, from 150 to 1,500 and we also had to increase ventilators, ICU (Intensive Care Unit) beds,” said Prajapati.With hospitals stretched to capacity, authorities asked hundreds of infected people to isolate at home. But that was a challenge for many.“If you