-The Telegraph Under-estimation of cases, inadequate number of ICU beds, old test kits add to challenge India could soon face its moment of reckoning with the Covid-19 pandemic and the question is whether the country, with its rickety, under-resourced healthcare system, will be able to cope. The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in India hit 151 Wednesday and, so far, there have been three deaths. On the surface, those numbers look extraordinarily...

-NetworkIdeas.org It is perhaps fitting that the seriousness of the coronavirus threat hit most of the Western world around the Ides of March, the traditional day of reckoning of outstanding debts in Ancient Rome. The previous week had been a veritable roller coaster ride. The World Health Organization (WHO) finally declared the contagion a pandemic, governments scrambled to respond, the virus dominated the news cycle as well as the plethora of...

-The Indian Express All comparisons between COVID-19 and TB end with the superficial observation that they are both deadly respiratory tract infections. The world has been spooked by COVID-19, the novel flu-like virus which emerged from the slaughter-houses of China and is now sweeping across the planet, propelled by the very engine of the global economy that it now threatens to pull asunder. Thanks to the waves of news engulfing us, including...

-TheNewsMinute.com As COVID-19 cases rise to 75 across the country, state governments are suspending the various touch points that could be a potential source of infection. The Kerala government’s Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs department has decided to suspend biometric authentication for the public distribution system (PDS), popularly known as fair price or ration shops, in all districts till March 31. The number of people confirmed to have the COVID-19 disease...

-Down to Earth Odisha supports its nutrition agenda through agricultural policies, the public distribution system among others Odisha has become the first Indian state to draw up a nutrition budget in the country. The idea of a thematic budget for nutrition is a unique one in India where an inter-departmental approach is followed. Key participants in this approach include anganwadi centres, schools and health institutions. Additionally, Odisha supports its nutrition agenda through agricultural...