Rishabh Kumar woke up in his California bedroom in a cold sweat. In the space of three weeks, the 37-year-old finance executive had lost his mother, best friend, brother-in-law and two cousins. They all died of Covid back home in India in April and May last year. The experience left him shattered and experiencing nightmares that continue to this day.
On this particular night last month, it was not thoughts of Covid tormenting him, but monkeypox, which had just been declared a health emergency in the US. Like many Indians at home and abroad, Kumar was worried for his country and the rest of his family.
