It was January 30 when India reported its first case of COVID. An Indian student studying in Wuhan tested COVID positive when he returned to Kerala. The next few days became a horror for Kerala as many more cases came up. The health department of Kerala became active and on high alert, closed the borders to contain the virus. “Initially, nobody in the world expected the pandemic to spread so quickly. That is why borders remained open till almost March. A situation like this had not happened in recent memory and nobody guessed that within a few months, the entire world would be under a lockdown,” said Dr N.N. Mathur, director, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital (LHMC), Delhi.

“By the time it was summer, we had to turn nearby guesthouses and our attached clinics into makeshift hospitals because patients just kept coming in”, added Dr N.N. Mathur.

When India reached the highest peak in the pandemic, the daily COVID reporting was more than 1,00,000. Initially, the virus had taken up a ferocious face as it not only infected people with all its might but also killed them. In the month of August, more than 900 people died within a span of 24 hours.

“We were up against a disease that had no known cure and whose symptoms were entirely unpredictable. Our healthcare system wasn’t ready for it. Within a few weeks, national committees were set up to look into beds, medicine, vaccines and research. Hospital staff had to learn to protect themselves and make do with what was available. Given India’s size, the speed with which medical personnel adapted and dealt with such an unforeseen challenge is remarkable.”, says Dr Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS Delhi.

Amidst the rapidly rising cases of COVID, the healthcare system in India made progress in leaps and bounds. Though initially, the healthcare industry was shaken to the core, with time, the government and private sectors came together to work in tandem. The private healthcare sector came up with various aids to help the government sector perform smoothly. It fulfilled a variety of responsibilities, including testing, isolation beds for treatment, medical staff and equipment at government COVID-19 hospitals and home healthcare.

The healthcare industry undertook a variety of initiatives including setting up COVID-19 hospitals, isolation centres and tech-enabled mapping of resources. In order to digitally manage the situation, the government came up with various digital solutions like Aarogya Setu mobile app for syndromic mapping, contact tracing and self-assessment.

The pandemic has surely affected each and every sector of the country. However, the worst affected one was the healthcare sector. Despite the challenges coming up every single day, the Indian healthcare sector has risen to unexpected levels of efficiency.