MUMBAI, India – The first time Sangeeta Siwan, a 45-year-old day laborer from India, learned about COVID-19 was when her employer at the packaging factory told her they would be temporarily closing business.
“Everything was shutting down … the country was shutting down. I didn’t even know that was possible,” she said.
Her initial shock quickly turned into dread. With the majority of the businesses coming to a standstill, there were very few jobs to replace the one she lost. And lockdowns kept her from being able to pursue even those.
“Everything changed overnight, and within a week I couldn’t even afford to feed my family. I couldn’t pay rent,” said Siwan, a widow who lives with her son and mother in a small house in the Subhash Nagar slums of Mumbai.
India declared lockdowns on March 25, 2020, and extended them, in varying…
