Covering India’s Covid crisis: ‘Hundreds of journalists have lost their lives’

Our South Asia correspondent reflects on a catastrophe that is now affecting the lives of almost everyone in the country

You recently lost a close colleague, Kakoli Bhattacharya, to Covid-19. Can you tell us about her and the important work that she did?

Kakoli was the Guardian's news assistant over here and had worked for us since 2009. She could find any number or contact I needed and smoothed over any and all of the bureaucratic challenges that working in India can present. She made reporting here a huge joy, when it could be a huge challenge, and she was hugely well thought of by journalists for other organisations too. More than that, though, she was the person who welcomed me to Delhi. She knew the region inside out. She was incredibly warm and was someone I could always call on. The Guardian's India coverage won't be the same without her.

Related: Warm, kind, wise and brilliant': Guardian writers remember Kakoli Bhattacharya