Enduring Pandemic: Responding Covid – 19 via online volunteerism, A case study of Covid voluntary groups in India
Abstract as pdf
Corresponding Author:
Bikash Chetry
University of Capetown India
chetry.bikash@gmail.com
Author(s):
In the social science research, varied roles of community and volunteerism around disaster response has been well documented as there were many case studies which emerged from vulnerable geographies about the role of communitybased initiatives and volunteerism to responds or mitigating these crises. When a hazard unfolds as disasters, local communities are not only the ‘first constituency’ to be affected by the deluge but also ‘first responders’ in responding the aftermath of disasters. The onset of the second wave of Covid-19 had adverse impact on communities in Indian subcontinent due to shortage of basic health care facilities like oxygen cylinders, ambulance service etc. As per Ministry of Health and Family Welfare 2021 report as on 23 May 2021, there were more than 26.5 million active cases of Covid-19 with more than 299,266 deaths. However, many health experts asserts that these number exceeds far and likely to be substantially underreported due to lack of testing done primarily in rural areas and hinterlands of India which lacked the basic facilities for Covid-19 testing. Over the last one month, healthcare workers and facilities have been overwhelmed due to the surge of cases all over the country, and as per Indian Medical Associated Report, 2021 shows more than 420 doctors lost their life due to this pandemic. Hence, we observed social media was overwhelmed by people, their families and friends were in distress for seeking help for oxygen concentration, food for people living in isolation, dry rations, hospital beds, vans for carrying dead bodies, medicines etc. The vulnerabilities of these community were not only because of their physical nature but also due to the arrangements in societies (lack of access to resource, unavailability of social capital etc.) which led to their aggravated susceptibility to disasters. However, the pandemic paved the way for large groups online volunteerism to respond to these crises which has become transnational in their approach where different group of people with the basic facilities like their phones, laptops, internet etc. are working relentlessly working to provide verified lead (information) to people to find hospital beds, concentration, ventilator and keeping the hope alive with them. Hence, through this paper I would try to navigate how this online volunteerism has become significant method towards responding to the crisis while at the same time to measure methodological challenges arose due to this.
Sharing Disaster Experience, Research and Innovation: A multi-hazard approach for risk management after Covid-19