How did the pandemic affect rural communities? What did they know about COVID-19 and prevention? The study from rural Odisha shows that while there was high compliance with preventative measures, the pandemic and associated lockdowns also led to many challenges. People experienced hardships around job loss, economic and food security, and emotional wellbeing. Many villages took precautionary measures such as physically barricading the village or requiring those returning to stay in quarantine. The results underscore the vulnerability of marginalised populations to the pandemic and the need for measures that increase resilience to large-scale shocks.
