-The Hindu Business Line Boasting a determined political leadership, Kerala has set a record of sorts in flattening the Covid-19 curve On January 18, KK Shailaja — “Shailaja Teacher”, as she is popularly known for her no-nonsense, science teacher demeanour — summoned a meeting of the Kerala health department, a ministry she had efficiently steered through unprecedented floods in 2018-19 and the outbreak of Nipah virus. There was no cause for alarm...

-The Hindu The Centre can afford to step up its COVID-19 assistance to a higher scale; fiscal deficit is no worry The three-week long lockdown imposed on the country, it can be argued, was an over-reaction. More widespread testing of possible cases, “social distancing”, self-quarantining by the elderly, and selective lockdown of sensitive areas (as the Chinese government did in Wuhan) might have been quite adequate. But while this can be debated,...

-The New Indian Express In a chat with The New Indian Express Editor GS Vasu, the internationally renowned medical expert shares two key findings that give India reason to hope. HYDERABAD: At a time of paranoia and panic over how long this corona-fuelled lockdown may stretch, internationally-renowned medical expert Dr D Nageshwar Reddy has good news. "This is something we can easily conquer. There’s no need to panic,” he says, while adding...

-The Hindu These cases can expose a large population to the virus than would otherwise occur Chennai: Eighty-six per cent of people in China who were infected with novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) were not tested in the two-week period before travel restrictions came into force on January 23 in Wuhan and other cities. And these undetected cases contributed to the majority of virus spread in the community, says a paper published in the...