In Focus by The Hindu

In this 16th episode of our coverage of COVID-19–related developments, we try and cover a flurry of updates in a somewhat rapid fire way. Once again, India reported its highest single-day spike in cases on Saturday, as the Indian Council for Medical Research released new guidelines on antibody-testing and the Health Ministry seems to largely be prescribing the use of ‘homemade face protectors’. We...

Besides the obvious news point in the Prime Minister’s video address on Friday, there’s more to discuss about the staggered exit from the 21-day lockdown that the PM discussed with Chief Ministers on Thursday, and we’ll give you a broad overview of the factors that need to be taken into consideration in this regard. Our Tamil Nadu Chief of Bureau Ramya Kannan joins us in this discussion. We also h...

To start off the 14th episode of our daily updates on COVID-19, U.S. Correspondent Sriram Lakshman describes the alarming numbers being reported in the United States — over 120,000 cases, with New York City death toll alone passing 1,000 — the response of the Trump administration and the economic impact that is already being felt by millions. We round it with quick updates by National Editor Suhas...

As the COVID-19 pandemic relentlessly sweeps across the globe, many countries are in some form of lockdown with people being asked to stay at home and limit all forms of social interaction. With the national lockdown in India, we may have just started on a trend that many now say could be the ‘new normal’ for social interaction. This episode explores the question of mental health at a time like th...

Over the past few days, pictures and videos have come streaming in of migrants anxious to go back to their homes after the announcement of a national lockdown. In this episode we look ahead to the possible ramifications — the potential radius of the virus’ spread based on known patterns of migration, the disruption in the labour market that we will see now and what we can to provide more security...

In this 13th episode of our daily updates on COVID-19, we discuss a strange development from the press briefing held by the Ministry of Health today, where questions were only allowed from Doordarshan and ANI. What caused this turn of events and what can we read into it? We also have updates on the Tablighi Jamaat hotspot that is throwing up cases all over the country, foreign funding invited for...

We start this show with a discussion around the Tablighi Jamaat congregation which took place earlier in the month which has unfortunately emerged as a major nodal point of infections. Cases in six States now can be directly traced to the event. A blame game broke out today over it but we analyse both sides of the story. Plus we get the latest updates on the number of cases in India, what we can r...

Guest: Dr. Faheem Younus, Chief Quality Officer and Chief of Infectious Diseases at the University of Maryland, U.S. Host: Narayan Lakshman, Associate Editor, The Hindu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Indian crosses 1,000 cases the coming week is set to be crucial. There has not been a sharp exponential rise in cases though that has to be qualified by low testing numbers so far, but could there be signs now that such a sharp rise may be avoided. In collaboration with The Hindu's data teams today, we discuss an inter-country comparison of the rising 'curve' of infections and discuss which tre...

The COVID-19 pandemic presents unprecedented challenges for journalists, both while covering events on the ground as well as in trying to assimilate reams of scientific information as it comes in and delivering it in an accessible way to the reader. In this podcast, we address the challenges of reporting on a pandemic, what to look for behind sensational headlines and projections, and what questio...

As much of the world continues to be devastated by the COVID-19 contagion, work has started in a handful of labs around the world to create a vaccine against the deadly coronavirus. These efforts are progressing at unprecedented speeds thanks to international collaboration between scientists but a vaccine is still thought to be at least a year away. In this episode we take a detailed look at the v...

The total number of COVID-19 cases in India on March 28 crossed 900 with over 180 fresh cases as well as 2 deaths being reported during the day, the highest single-day increase so far as per Union Health Ministry data. Meanwhile, on Day 4 of the national lockdown images continue to pour in of thousands of migrant labourers who have lost their daily sustenance and are now trying to walk several hun...

The RBI on Friday announced measures to protect the Indian economy from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including a huge repo-rate cut and a three-month moratorium on loan payments. We discuss these measures in detail and how they will help. We also discuss some directives that have come from the government today on improving surveillance on travellers who entered the country bef...

Guest: Adam Kucharski, Associate Professor and Sir Henry Dale Fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Dr. Kucharski specialises in the mathematical analysis of infectious disease outbreaks. Host: Narayan Lakshman, Associate Editor, The Hindu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of India’s most authoritative voices in the field of epidemiology joins us today to discuss the 21-day lockdown and whether India already has entered the community transmission phase with COVID-19 and the steps that we are to take going forward if we are to achieve a ‘herd immunity’ to the disease that can protect the young and the elderly. Guest: Dr. Jayaprakash Muliyil, Epidemiologist, forme...

The Union government on Thursday announced a ₹1.7 lakh crore package in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and countrywide lockdown, providing free food and cash transfers to support the poorest citizens, who are most vulnerable during a crisis such as this. In this update podcast, we give you a quick rundown of the various benefits announced and share some initial impressions about whether the pac...

In this episode, we hear from a specialist in intensive care medicine in the U.K. on how rapidly the COVID-19 disease has spread and the lessons that India can take from the experience there. Guests: Hugh Montgomery, professor of medicine and the director of the Centre for Human Health and Performance at University College London Host: Narayan Lakshman, Associate Editor, The Hindu Learn more about...

In this episode, we deal with the crucial question of what this lockdown will mean for our economy and what measures the government can take to deal with it. Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman announced some measures but a full-scale economic stimulus package is still yet to come. Going briefly over the Finance Minister’s announcements today, The Hindu’s business editor Raghuvi...

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces an official 21-day lockdown across the country to combat the spread of COVID-19, we talk about the fallout of his address to the nation, and discuss developments on the health and science front. Guests: Suhasini Haidar, National Editor; & Jacob Koshy, Deputy Science Editor, The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Additio...

In our fifth episode of the daily COVID-19 update, we start with an update from the United States, where New York has emerged as a new epicentre of the virus, now accounting for a staggering 5% of confirmed cases around the world. We look at how have things escalated to that level over there. We also get updates on a new drug that the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended for...

Just as the country was coming together to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s idea of a ‘Janta Curfew’ came the news in the evening that further curbs and restrictions — in the form of a lockdown in 75 affected districts across the country — would come into place from tonight. Life in India is set to change very drastically from Monday. We look ahead to that and also to some major debates now...

Cases of novel coronavirus are now being reported from almost every State in India and the number of reported cases has crossed 300. We’re going to use this episode to give you a quick update on what we know so far. We are building up to a big day tomorrow, when the ʻjanta curfewʼ announced by Prime minister Narendra Modi will come into force. And we’re also building up to a huge week ahead where...

In our second episode covering the spread of COVID-19 in India, we look at the alarming rise in the number of reported cases, the communications between various countries around the world as the virus spreads unchecked, and the strange story of Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor. Guests: Suhasini Haidar, National Editor, The Hindu, & Jacob Koshy, Deputy Science Editor, The Hindu, & Jyoti Shelar, who i...

We start a new series today, sometimes as a stand-alone, and sometimes as a bonus episode added to our discussions on other topics, about the spread of COVID-19 in India, chronicling and discussing major developments. Today we discuss Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation. While he struck a serious and sombre tone, did we learn anything new at a policy level about India’s strategy t...

Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who retired four months ago as Chief Justice of India, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha on March 16. The nomination, coming so soon after his retirement is bound to raise questions of a quid pro quo and there will be a scanner now on judgments that he delivered and administrative actions that he took that favoured the government. In this episode, we discuss two notable instan...