Floods, landslides and COVID-19 in the Uttarakhand State, India: Impact of Ongoing Crises on Public Health.
Anna Chiara CorrieroFatima Muhammad Asad KhanEsther Edet BasseyOumnia BouaddiAna Carla Dos Santos CostaOumaima OutaniMohammad Mehedi HasanShoaib AhmadMohammad Yasir EssarPublished in: Disaster medicine and public health preparedness (2021)
The Uttarakhand State, known for its Himalayan Mountains, is a territory in Northern India that is extremely vulnerable to earthquakes, landslides, and floods. Currently, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, India is facing the dual challenge of containing a pandemic and responding to natural disasters. This situation can have a negative impact on the health and the economic development of the region, leading to a long-lasting humanitarian crisis that can disrupt even more, the already overburdened health service. In addition, it can pose serious threats to the wellbeing of the population as it complicates physical distancing and other COVID-19 prevention measures. It is of utmost importance to analyse the impact of floods, landslides, and COVID-19 pandemic on the health system of the Uttarakhand State, and how these crises interact with each other.