In Focus by The Hindu

We last recorded a data podcast on May 7 when India had crossed 50,000 cases and now, some 11 days later, it has crossed the 1-lakh mark. Accordingly, we review the lockdown as a policy decision and compare numbers with countries around the world. Is stringency of lockdown the only determining factor in halting the spread of the infection? And how are various States within the country doing now in...

Guest: Dr. Peter Hotez, Dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine and a Professor at the Departments of Paediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Host: Narayan Lakshman, Associate Editor, The Hindu Body text: As the world continues to grapple with the debilitating human toll and economic consequences of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,...

There are over a 100 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 currently under development and the urgency of the pandemic has meant that many of them have accelerated the process of going in for human trials. In some cases, vaccine manufacturers have already announced tie-ups with some labs for mass production before final approvals have arrived. This unprecedented race to find a vaccine has brought to lig...

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a second press conference to detail more aspects of the ₹20-lakh-crore economic package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Today’s announcements focussed on measures to help migrants and farmers. Meanwhile, India’s COVID-19 numbers are closing in on China’s officially reported tally. Guests: Suhasini Haidar, National Editor, The Hindu; Jacob Koshy,...

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave out the first details of the ₹20-lakh-crore economic stimulus package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 12. Major incentives were announced on Wednesday for micro, small and medium industries. We also have details on the second batch of flights bringing back Indians stranded abroad and interesting details on Indian being caught in the middle...

Kerala’s success in tackling COVID-19 stands out among Indian States and has been hailed globally as an example of how sustained planning and investment in a robust healthcare system, and a decentralised model of operation, can allow a State of its size to bring a pandemic under control without breaking the bank. How has investment in healthcare in the State been sustained across various administr...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fifth video call with Chief Ministers to discuss life after the lockdown and possible extensions was still ongoing while we were recording this episode, but we are able to bring you the major highlights and themes. We also give you an update on the huge spike in coronavirus numbers over the last 24 hours and developments on antibody tests, strategy for community surv...

Our weekly data update for the week comes at a time when India has crossed the 50,000 mark in COVID-19 cases, and our economy and workers continue to suffer. We’ll discuss the latest numbers — on how India now compares with other countries around the world, on how individual States are doing with containment, and on the unemployment numbers which are continuing to rise. We also have a quick update...

A running theme during this lockdown period and of the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in general so far is that decision-making has been largely centralised while the fact is that it is the States that bear responsibility for the real frontline battles against the pandemic. So we’ll look at the sharing of funds between Centre and State governments and take both a long-term and short-term view....

India’s largest repatriation exercise amid the lockdown began on Thursday and we have all the details of the operation in this episode. Plus, from the science front, we have some updates on the testing of a new combination of drugs to treat severely affected patients, and on vaccine trials from Israel and Italy. Guest: Suhasini Haidar, National Editor, The Hindu; Jacob Koshy, Deputy Science Editor...

In this episode, we take a detailed look at aspects of our healthcare system that are being neglected while all of our resources are directed toward battling the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are issues like the immunisation of children, antenatal care of pregnant women, treatment of chronic illnesses and other infectious diseases that still require urgent attention. And the concern is th...

While the daily rise in the number of cases in India has been around the 2,000 mark for the last few days, the past 24 hours have seen a huge spike with the new cases numbering reportedly around 3,900. We’ll discuss that spike in numbers as well as some detailed plans being put out by the government to bring back Indians stranded abroad, including the number of flights and how much passengers will...

As we begin the third phase of lockdown, the big news is that the government has laid out plans to bring back thousands of Indians who have been stranded abroad. We also discuss how the lifting of restrictions will affect the rise in the number of cases, which have been spiking over the last few days. Guest: Suhasini Haidar, National Editor, The Hindu; Jacob Koshy, Deputy Science Editor, The Hindu...

Two weeks ago, United States President Donald Trump had signed an immigration order restricting certain categories of immigration for a period of 60 days. The ostensible reason for this action was to save American jobs — more than 26 Americans signed up for unemployment benefits between early March and April 18. However, the executive order’s impact is questionable. We examine the deeper roots of...

Franklin Templeton, one of India’s top 10 mutual fund houses, announced last week that it would be winding up six of its debt schemes. The move has resulted in about ₹30,000 crore of investor money being locked up. The development sent shockwaves through the mutual funds industry, and this week, the RBI announced a ₹50,000-crore “liquidity window” specially for mutual funds, to help them tide over...

As the end of the 40-day lockdown period approaches and we move toward a gradational exit, K. Srinath Reddy, President of the Public Health Foundation of India, member of the ICMR’s COVID-19 task force and one of India’s most eminent doctors, takes stock of what has been achieved during this period in respect of the public health systems. With systemic weaknesses still remaining, he cautions that...

The national lockdown will be extended by a further two weeks after May 4. However, under this broad umbrella policy, there will be some relaxations, based on the classification of the country’s 733 districts into Red Zones (hotspots) where all restrictions will continue, and Green and Orange Zones where there will be considerable relaxations. In this episode, we discuss the extension, the differe...

In a brief episode today we discuss some highlights from briefings at the Health Ministry and the Ministry of External Affairs. Guest: Suhasini Haidar, National Editor, The Hindu; Jacob Koshy, Deputy Science Editor, The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a brief episode of the daily update podcast we cover two developments involving the Ministry of Home Affairs — the issuing of a fresh set of guidelines to allow stranded migrant workers, students, tourists and pilgrims to get back home, and a late-evening announcement that considerable relaxations would be given in many districts from May 4. Guest: Suhasini Haidar, National Editor, The Hindu. W...

In this episode, we take the opportunity to discuss plasma therapy for COVID-19 in detail after the ICMR on April 28 said that despite some hospitals and other facilities conducting trials it could not be deemed an approved treatment for the disease yet. We’ll also get an update on the latest numbers and the progression of the caseload in India. (Recorded on Tuesday, April 28) Guest: Jacob Koshy,...

In an earlier episode of this podcast, we had discussed some of the mathematical models initially presented for India, some of which projected astronomical figures of COVID-19 cases and deaths. We discussed the parameters and assumptions that those models, many prepared by Universities in the United States and discussed the need for mathematical modelling that could be applied for individual State...

As the last week of the 40-day lockdown begins, the Prime Minister held a video conference with Chief Ministers on April 27, and indicated that any exit from the lockdown would be gradational in terms of resuming economic activity, with particular emphasis still being placed on bringing down the case load in ‘red zones’. The ICMR, meanwhile, has asked States to stop using antibody test kits suppli...

The Coronavirus pandemic has posed huge political and economic challenges to China, the country where the virus originated. While the Chinese government has touted its massive national response as an example of how strong its political system is, questions have been asked, even within China, about the ruling Communist Party’s handling of the initial stages of the outbreak. What do we make of the p...

On World Malaria Day, we get a perspective on India’s battle with a disease that still remains a significant challenge even if it’s very much out of the news at the moment. We also have reports on Indian citizens from the Gulf who will be repatriated first after flight restrictions are lifted and on a government panel projection on the slowing of new coronavirus cases thanks to the lockdown. Recor...

As we complete one month of the national lockdown, we look at the government's recent statement that the growth of cases in India has been linear and not exponential thanks to the lockdown having being imposed. And while talk of national numbers is well and good, the more important datasets, perhaps, are how individual States are handling the spread of the virus, and the testing rates and strategi...