In Focus by The Hindu

As we complete one month of the national lockdown, we look ahead to probable changes in labour market dynamics. Will there be an imbalance between rural and urban economies in the short run? Will the scars of the COVID-19 crisis deter labourers who have returned to their villages from migrating long distances in search of employment? And what can be done by government and private sector do provide...

In this episode, we’ll get an update from The Hindu's United States Correspondent Sriram Lakshman on the overall situation with regard to the Coronavirus in the U.S. and the reasoning behind President Donald Trump’s temporary ban on immigration, on which he signed an executive order on April 22. We’ll then move on to Ministry briefings — from the External Affairs Ministry, National Affairs Editor...

After a five-member Central team projected that the number of COVID-19 cases in Mumbai would touch an estimated 42,604 by April 30 and spiral to 6,56,407 by May 15, the Maharashtra government has contested the methodology and tools used for the projection. We will discuss that story and also take a detailed look at the various problems the ICMR and state governments are facing with the rapid antib...

Today’s rather diverse episode covers issues ranging from the BMC in Mumbai revealing that several journalists in the city have tested positive for COVID-19, blood banks across the country running short as thalassemia and dialysis patients are the worst hit, and a developing situation in the Gulf countries where thousands of Indian immigrant workers could find themselves without jobs as the econom...

The WHO is facing arguably its biggest-ever crisis, with questions being raised over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States has said it will cut its funding to the WHO while many other nations are calling for reforms. Is the criticism being mounted against the WHO justified and where does the world body go from here? Interview by Ananth Krishnan, The Hindu Guest: Shashi Tharoor,...

Despite its large population, the South Asia region has recorded low figures of the virus. The eight SAARC nations, for instance, account for approximately 1.1% of the world total of nearly 23,00,000 coronavirus cases. In this episode, we pause to look at these numbers, the initial projections for the region and ask thr question — does a separate study need on COVID-19 impact in South Asia? if a s...

It is becoming increasingly crucial for people to have awareness and knowledge about COVID-19, how the virus spreads, and the reasoning behind measures like social distancing. Especially in times of great anxiety, various conspiracies theories tend to sprout up and, in response to health emergencies, several dubious ideas on medicine and treatment also come up. In conversation with one of India’s...

The RBI introduced additional measures on Friday to infuse liquidity into the market and ease the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Health Ministry, meanwhile, has some figures about how the lockdown has slowed down the rate at which the number of cases has doubled in India. We also have a quick update on a new RT-PCR test kit for COVID-19 that has been developed by a lab in K...

Solidarity is an international clinical trial to help find an effective treatment for COVID-19, launched by the World Health Organization and partners. The treatment options on the table are the drugs Remdesivir; Lopinavir/Ritonavir; Lopinavir/Ritonavir with Interferon beta-1a; and Chloroquine or Hydroxychloroquine. The latter, of course, has been the subject of much debate in India but in this ep...

In the time of COVID-19 and mass lockdowns and social isolation, the video conference app Zoom has come to be all the rage as a way for people to connect with each other across the world. The Indian Home Ministry on Thursday issued an advisory saying the platform wasn’t secure, especially for government communication. In other news, a huge consignment of rapid testing kits arrived from China on Th...

While most other countries around the world ave opted for some form of aggressive lockdown strategy Sweden adopted a more relaxed approach, keeping many establishments open. The strategy seemed to aim at defeating the disease by achieving 'herd immunity' an idea that seems to have gained some currency in India recently. How have they fared in this approach and what are the problems associated with...

A day after Prime Minister Modi extended the national lockdown till May 3, the Ministry of Home affairs on Wednesday issued detailed guidelines for relaxations in certain sectors that may come into effect in some parts of the country from April 20. We discuss those guidelines and also get the latest from the Health Ministry briefings. (Recorded on April 15, 2020) Guests: Suhasini Haidar, National...

In the 24th episode of our analysis of COVID-19-related developments, we discuss the extension of the national lockdown till May 3, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday morning. The Prime Minister had added that some relaxations, for some types of workers, could gradually be introduced after April 20. Those guidelines, set to be released on Wednesday (April 15) are said to be ‘l...

As we recorded this episode, the suspense of the Prime Minister's 10 a.m. address on April 14 loomed over us, because we were largely unsure still of the specifics of any kind of announcement regarding an extension of the national lockdown. In this episode, we bring to you update about a new pilot project in Mumbai’s Dharavi area where hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) will be administered at a community l...

This episode comes at a critical juncture when we are still pondering ways in which the lockdown can be lifted in a calibrated manner in some areas while being extended in others as the battle to contain the spread of COVID-19 in India continues. There are crucial questions to be asked about how to contain the virus if the lockdown is lifted, what kind of data we may need to determine the spread o...

Looming over this 22nd episode of our daily coverage of COVID-19 is the question of whether the lockdown will be extended nationally and what strategy may be followed for a calibrated exit in some sectors. Some States have gone ahead and announced an extension (as we publish, Telangana is the latest to do so, joining Odisha and Punjab). We discuss that as well as the mathematical graph put out by...

In the 21st episode of our daily COVID-19 updates, The Hindu's political editor Nistula Hebbar talks to us about some reporting that suggests that the lockdown may ease up in rural areas as the government keeps an eye on the supply of food grains in the country while urban areas are likely to remain shut. Deputy Science Editor Jacob Koshy also joins in to give us the latest from the Health Ministr...

While questions over the possible extension of the lockdown loom large, there are several points to ponder over about the strategy to contain the spread of COVID-19 going forward. In this episode we get an in-depth analysis on ‘hotspot’ cluster containment, the types of testing we need to be doing to gain more data about community spread and some sound advice about the types of masks we should be...

There have been instances of coronavirus in patients who had no established contact with someone who had picked up the disease from abroad — from as early as March 22, according to a research study in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, authored by several ICMR scientists — including its head Balram Bhargava — and made public late on April 10. Notably, the national lockdown was announced two d...

While sections of our news media have been dominated by reporting on the Tablighi Jamaat convention and how it has turned into a major nodal point for spreading infections across the country it’s worth noting that this is not the first ‘super spreader’ event traceable to a religious group. In this episode we look at the Shincheonji church incident in South Korea, how it was reported and how number...

In collaboration with The Hindu’s data team, this episode comes to you on the cusp of an impending decision on extending the 21-day lockdown period in order to battle the spread of COVID-19. We discuss two data points in the context of a possible extension in the lockdown period — the effect that the lockdown has had thus far on unemployment rates and the State-wise tracker for confirmed cases, de...

After 76 days, the lockdown in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus originated, was lifted on April 8. As many parts of China now emerge out of various stages of shutdown, residents describe a ‘new normal’ in terms of how cities function and how they go about their day-to-day lives. Could China’s experience shed some light on how post-lockdown life might pan out in India? Intervi...

In the 18th episode of our coverage of developments on the COVID-19 front, we discuss the drug hydroxychloroquine after Indian lifted a ban on its export on Tuesday. There are questions about whether this is in response to U.S. president Donald Trump threatening retaliatory action given that the U.S. had placed an order some time before the ban on exports was put in place. India is the world's lar...

With her extensive experience in government, working in the public health space, former Union Health Secretary K. Sujatha Rao is at the very heart of the debate on the global Coronavirus pandemic. In this episode of the “In Focus” podcast she discusses with Narayan Lakshman, Associate Editor at The Hindu, the critical issue of system preparedness in India, in particular the importance of rapidly b...

In the 17th episode discussing daily developments on the COVID-19 front, we go into topics ranging from the ban on export of the drug hydroxychloroquine, which the government may be reconsidering given that several countries have placed orders to use the drug both as treatment and as a prophylactic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday also sought suggestions on a calibrated exit strategy from...