The government order on the night of March 24, 2020, was abrupt but clear: In four hours, India and its 1.4 billion people would be locked down entirely because of the coronavirus.
In the days that followed, millions lost their jobs, devastating the economy. The already struggling health care system was strained even further. Social inequalities came to the fore, pushing millions more into poverty.
India’s lockdown, among the strictest anywhere, lasted for 68 days, and some form of it remained in force for months before it eventually was lifted. Since the pandemic began, India has had 11.6m cases and more than 160,000 people have died.
A year after the lockdown, its ripples are still visible. Some people shrugged it off and managed to get back to normal. For many others, though, their lives were changed greatly.
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