A second crisis is killing survivors of India’s worst Covid wave

The 41-year-old driver is one of more than 45,000 Indians infected with black fungus — or mucormycosis — since the start of the country’s second Covid-19 wave in late March.Like Srinivas, the vast majority of sufferers — around 85% — were Covid-19 patients, according to India’s Health Ministry. By July, more than 4,300 people had died from the fungal infection.Srinivas’s sister Shyamala V. sits by his bed and considers what life will be like for her brother’s wife and two young sons, ages 2 and four months, if he becomes one of them. “I am very scared for him; he has two small kids. Who will look after them?” she said. Srinivas is a Covid survivor, but it will be some time before he’s able to return to work. He was unable to speak for weeks after his surgery to remove traces of black fungus, initially due to pain and swelling, then because a feeding tube had been inserted due to the loss of part of his jaw. “I can see … I feel good, I’ll try to get back to work as soon as possible. I have two small kids. I have been in the hospital for a very long time and I haven’t even seen them,” Srinivas said in early July.Srinivas was discharged last Saturday after two months in the hospital, though his left eye remains swollen shut, and he must visit the hospital each week to monitor his progress.”I don’t think he can go back to work before a year, said his sister Shyamala. “But it will be difficult to make him stay home.”