-RuralIndiaOnline.org Poor public infrastructure, unaffordable private medical care and limited access to the state health insurance scheme are pushing Covid patients and their families into long-term debt in Marathwada  Eight days after testing positive for Covid-19, Ramling Sanap died in the hospital where he was being treated for the infection. But it wasn’t the virus that killed him. A few hours before he died, Ramling, 40, had phoned his wife, Rajubai, from the...

-The Hindu So far, Delhi, Bihar, U.P. and Rajasthan have lost the maximum number of doctors. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) said that 594 doctors died during the second wave of COVID-19 across the country. It released an updated list on Wednesday and noted that Delhi (107), Bihar (96), Uttar Pradesh (67) and Rajasthan (43) have lost the maximum number of doctors so far. While no such count is available for other medical...

-PTI/ Business Standard In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHRC has issued more advisories to various ministries and states on the adverse impact faced by labourers and migrant informal sector workers In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Human Rights Commission has issued more advisories to various ministries and states on the adverse impact faced by labourers and migrant informal sector workers, officials said on Tuesday. The country has been reeling...

-The Hindu Centre to make 6 crore doses available directly for priority groups in June An aggressive, liberalised vaccination program is key to preventing another surge of COVID-19, say health experts, warning that pandemics often persist for years presenting in-surges. “We have to accept that COVID is here to stay and that we have to work at long-term management of the virus,” say doctors. The warning comes even as India has so far managed...

-The Hindu The universalisation of social security remains an unfulfilled aspiration in the new code on social security As COVID-19 destroys lives and livelihoods, an unprepared government has rendered low-paid, informal workers, who constitute 91% of the workforce, totally hapless, pushing them further into poverty. Imagine if these same informal workers had social security (including free basic curative care in public clinics and hospitals, the elderly had old age pensions, the dying...