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COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented global impact. Since its onset, the Government of India, State Governments and local authorities have been directing all their efforts towards handling the crisis. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) with the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) will be releasing a series of articles on case studies of response actions for COVID-19. These articles illustrate the approaches and strategies adopted across many Indian cities and states. The articles cover initiatives adopted towards controlling the spread of the virus, ranging from technological interventions, communication strategies, multi-sectoral governance mechanisms, and community participation.

Sixth in this series of articles on response actions on #COVID19 in India, here is a story on how Women lead the fight against COVID-19 in the state of Odisha. Odisha, known for its ancient Hindu temples and some scenic areas, has a population of 43.7 million; just a little less than the population of a country like Argentina, living on 1/18th of the geographical area of Argentina. The majority of the population in Odisha depends upon agriculture and allied services, though the major contributor to GDP is the services sector. The state took a series of steps at an early stage to contain the spread of the virus and to break the chain of infection. As soon as the first case was reported in Odisha on March 16th 2020, Odisha was one of the first states to announce the lockdown, even before the central government imposed the lockdown. Odisha was also the first state to set up hospitals to treat only coronavirus patients.