{"id":20072379,"date":"2021-05-12T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=72379"},"modified":"2021-05-12T23:11:04","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T17:41:04","slug":"covid-air-pollution-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/covid-air-pollution-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Air pollution adds to India\u2019s pandemic pain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Anju Verma tested positive for the coronavirus in September 2020, along with the rest of her family. With chronic asthma since childhood, Verma was dreading the impact. Instead, the 47-year-old homeopathic medicine practitioner was surprised to find that she was largely in better shape during the course of the illness than the rest of her family, with only occasional breathlessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, her ordeal did not end after her recovery. She is one of many who are no longer ill with the virus but are still suffering from a range of side effects months after the infection \u2013 a condition broadly known as \u2018long Covid\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cAfter having Covid-19, over the last six months I\u2019ve been feeling more breathless if I\u2019m exerting myself, and since then I had about five full-blown asthmatic attacks,\u201d she said. This was something that had not occurred with such frequency before. These days, she said, \u201cI\u2019m more prone [than before suffering from Covid-19] to asthma attacks, particularly when pollution worsens during seasonal changes, or around Diwali.\u201d The Hindu festival of lights, marked by fireworks in much of India, leads to a sharp rise in air pollution<\/a> that can last for days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a new wave of Covid-19 ravages India, Verma isolates at home and only offers online consultations, for fear of being infected again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n