Most reports and studies by official agencies, international think tanks and private entities indicate the cataclysmic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy and society. They anticipate that lockdowns imposed by various countries across the globe to reduce the exponential diffusion of COVID-19 (i.e. for flattening the curve by social distancing and quarantines) would adversely affect economic growth and disrupt supply chains in most sectors, on top of causing...

-TheWire.in Narendra Modi's track record in Gujarat sheds light on his approach to public healthcare. Data updated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on the evening of April 7 indicated that the fatality rate due to COVID-19 in Gujarat is the highest among all states and union territories of India. The total number of infected persons reported in Gujarat was at 165, with 13 deaths. Thus the fatality rate in Gujarat...

-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....

-TheWire.in Our relentless pursuit of economic growth poses serious risks not just to the environment but also to public health. The COVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost a public health crisis, but it brings along with it an economic crisis that is no less devastating. The public health crisis and the economic crisis are closely interrelated, especially in a country like India. India’s healthcare system lacks the resources to withstand the potential...

-Newsclick.in With the Centre being both niggardly and thoughtless in the matter of relief following the unplanned lockdown, state governments, which are desperately short of funds, will be left holding the baby. The tragic irony could not have been more complete. The country is under lockdown, but last week thousands of migrant workers were thronging bus stands or marching on the roads, making a mockery of it; the aim of the lockdown...