-The Hindu India needs a national policy providing for free testing and treatment of COVID-19 patients in private hospitals As India enters the second week of a national lockdown imposed in response to COVID-19, it is still unclear how well prepared the healthcare system is in dealing with the pandemic. Given the resource constraints of both the Central and State governments, it is clear that government hospitals alone will not be able...

-The Telegraph Too little, too late? Criticised for lack of protective gear, govt takes steps, ropes in Red Cross, pvt sector Only 3.34 lakh personal protective equipment (PPE) are available with hospitals in the country, the Union health ministry said on Monday, days after it was criticised for the shortage of protective gear for medical professionals at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus. In addition to the available PPE, 60,000 PPE...

-CaravanMagazine.in At 5 pm on 29 March the union health ministry’s website said that India had 869 positive COVID-19 cases, spread over 26 states and union territories. Seven days earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced his main attempt to halt the spread of the pandemic: an unanticipated 21-day nationwide lockdown. Amid rising concerns of shortage of essential equipment and services in public hospitals for front-line staff dealing with the epidemic,...

-The Hindu The Kerala government has been successful in putting the public health sector back on the rails Every year after the Union Budget, newspapers carry articles critiquing the abysmal allocation for the health sector. As the COVID-19 threat looms, doctors, healthcare professionals and state institutions have been regularly issuing guidelines on the precautions to be taken. However, the ubiquitous fault lines of India’s public healthcare infrastructure are being laid bare as...

-Scroll.in One of India’s most renowned epidemiologists cautions against unsustainable lockdowns and says community participation is the key to fight the disease. Jayaprakash Muliyil is one of India’s foremost epidemiologists, with decades of experience in the study of infectious diseases. The former principal of the Christian Medical College in Vellore spoke to Scroll.in about India’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. He said the stage of community transmission, when the source of infection for...