-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 Hindu The government has an opportunity to help farmers who are battling declining demand and lower prices Social distancing and living under a lockdown appear to be the only effective ways of dealing with the pandemic. As India lacks the resources to significantly ramp up testing, imposing a lockdown was the government’s preferred option. Although there is limited evidence to suggest that this strategy may be working in containing the spread...

-The Hindu Trans and non-binary individuals struggle with lack of funds, food, stigma, safety and mental health concerns Mumbai: Begging is no longer an option for Zoya Thomas Lobo (25), who is solely dependent on the money she used to make in the women’s compartments of Mumbai’s locals. On an average day before the lockdown, she would make anything between ₹500 and ₹1,100 on a daily basis. But the nationwide lockdown, in...

-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...

-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...