-The Hindu The pandemic can be slowed only by a lockdown as well as by ensuring universal mask use Flattening the epidemic curve (case distribution curve) is the need of the day. On the curve, Y axis and X axis represent case numbers and time, respectively. A normal epidemic curve is bell-shaped, with an early ascending slope (first phase), a peak (second phase) and a declining slope (third phase). The area under...

-The Hindu Noting that the pandemic is seeing a “persisting and ever escalating spread” the United Nurses Association pointed out that nurses and health workers are exposed to infection. A Kerala-based 3.8 lakh-strong nurses’ association has approached the Supreme Court saying the government has not formulated a National Management Protocol for COVID-19 to address the serious concerns relating to imminent and extreme risks posed to the health and safety of medical personnel...

-TheWire.in Both the government and middle-class society have left the country's migrant workers to their own devices. As citizens bearing equal rights, migrant workers, Dalits, tribals, Muslims and sexual minorities are a substantial part of the modern nation-state. However, the actual story of India’s economic growth has showcased their persistent marginalisation and exclusion. These groups survive in isolation and have often been treated with disdain, mistrust or even as a threat to...

-The Hindu Former Union Health Secretary says the infection has come mainly from those middle-class people who have been abroad and come back to India K. Sujatha Rao served as Union Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for the Indian government, until 2010, where she was involved in the process for a national policy for use of antibiotics, introducing vaccines in public health, and the first-ever national programme for non-communicable diseases....

-Press release by Right to Food Campaign Jharkhand dated 6th April, 2020 The government of Jharkhand has announced, as part of its relief measures, that eligible households left out of the public distribution system (PDS) would receive 10 kg of foodgrain if they have applied for a ration card. An impression has been created that this would be 10 kg per month. In fact, none of this is happening. Instead, mukhiyas (gram...