O
n April 11, 2020, Umar Khalid [an Indian student activist leader] sent me a message on Twitter. He shared a poster that said over 15,000 primary healthcare centers in India were operating with just one doctor, out of approximately 30,000 such centers that provide basic care in rural areas. He was organizing digitally to demand that the Modi administration "prioritize healthcare and not hate."
His message came with a compliment. "You are doing amazing work." I never responded. Those were the manic, early months of the Covid-19 pandemic. India was deep in a nationwide lockdown, and I was reporting on the humanitarian crisis, marked by a massive migrant worker exodus and alarming science denialism.
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