-The Hindu The Health Ministry’s guidelines for managing COVID-19 ignore evidence, pricing, cost-effectiveness and social relevance. The Health Ministry released its first COVID-19 management guidelines about a year ago. The initial treatment guidelines included hydroxychloroquine, which led to panic buying of the drug. Little was known in those initial months. In the last one year, multiple studies have proven the lack of efficacy of hydroxychloroquine. While most practitioners have moved away from...

-The Indian Express The court added that meanwhile Kappan is at liberty to approach "the concerned courts for the grant of bail or to challenge the proceedings or for quashing the chargesheet”. Saying that the “most precious fundamental right to life unconditionally embraces even an undertrial”, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed that journalist Sidhique Kappan, arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police and charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), be...

-The Hindu Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee, in an observation, said there can’t be adhocism in dealing with a pandemic Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Sanjib Banerjee on Thursday wondered what the Centre was doing for the last 12 to 14 months without anticipating the second wave of COVID-19 and getting prepared to face it. Referring to desperate measures being taken when the wave was at its peak now, he said...

-The Indian Express In the last 10 days, from April 18 to April 27, as many as 3,049 died of Covid. And an almost equal number, 3909, died suspected to have had Covid. The harrowing images playing out from cities and towns across the country show mourners lined up outside crematoriums, rows of funeral pyres burning with hardly a break, last-rites arrangements being hurriedly scrambled for the rising number of dead. In the...

-The Hindu Business Line Kerala’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the subject of international conversation about public health systems. Piloting Kerala’s fight against the pandemic is the State’s Health Minister and CPI(M)’s Central Committee member KK Shailaja who speaks exclusively to BusinessLine about the criticality of publicly-run healthcare and how the need of the hour is to nationalise the system. Excerpts: * What are the lessons to be learnt from...