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Floods, landslides and COVID-19 in the Uttarakhand State, India: Impact of Ongoing Crises on Public Health

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2021

Anna Chiara Corriero Open the ORCID record for Anna Chiara Corriero [Opens in a new window] ,
Fatima Muhammad Asad Khan ,
Esther Edet Bassey ,
Oumnia Bouaddi ,
Ana Carla dos Santos Costa Open the ORCID record for Ana Carla dos Santos Costa [Opens in a new window] ,
Oumaima Outani ,
Mohammad Mehedi Hasan Open the ORCID record for Mohammad Mehedi Hasan [Opens in a new window] ,
Shoaib Ahmad  and
Mohammad Yasir Essar
Anna Chiara Corriero*
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, United Kingdom
Fatima Muhammad Asad Khan
Affiliation:
Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan
Esther Edet Bassey
Affiliation:
Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria
Oumnia Bouaddi
Affiliation:
Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco
Ana Carla dos Santos Costa
Affiliation:
Department of Internal Medicine, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
Oumaima Outani
Affiliation:
Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco
Mohammad Mehedi Hasan
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Life Science, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail, Bangladesh
Shoaib Ahmad
Affiliation:
Department of Internal Medicine, District Headquarters Hospital, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Mohammad Yasir Essar
Affiliation:
Kabul University of Medical Sciences, Kabul, Afghanistan
*
Corresponding author: Anna Chiara Corriero, Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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.

Keywords

floodslandslidesCOVID-19Uttarakhand Statepublic healthIndia
Type
Commentary
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 16 , Issue 6 , December 2022 , pp. 2279 - 2282
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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