This Wednesday morning, mainstream newspapers consider the possibility of a longer lockdown.
There’s also news coming in that coronavirus-hit states like Kerala are planning cautious and phase-by-phase lifting of curbs.
On the diplomatic and political front, newspapers report the central government’s decision to lift the export ban on certain pharmaceuticals, including hydroxychloroquine.
Pink papers rejoice momentarily in the Indian stock market’s impressive gains Tuesday, after receiving “positive global cues” of lowered coronavirus cases in New York city, which was feared to be a Covid-19 epicentre.
But bad news continues on jobs: Mint makes special mention of the alarming spike in unemployment among urban educated Indians, over the last two months.
‘Centre may extend lockdown’, says The Times of India in its lead reports with states like Maharashtra, Telangana, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh batting for an extension. The report quotes “official sources” who say that the Centre is also consulting public health experts “who believe that while the infection rate shows signs of stabilizing, there is a risk of resurgence if the gains made so far in containing the spread are not locked in”.
Another report ‘3-tier classification of hospes for diverse levels of infections’ highlights the government’s efforts “to streamline the treatment of Covid-19 patients”. “The government has now classified hospitals into three categories — Covid Care Centres to treat very mild, mild and suspect cases; Covid Health Centres for clinically moderate level serious patients; and Dedicated Covid Hospitals to provide comprehensive care to severe and critical patients,” the report notes.
A third report ‘CM: Hotels to become hosp…’ notes that hotels could also be used as hospitals in Delhi if the number of cases crosses 30,000 — as stated by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in his five-point programme.
Also, do read the anchor story ‘NCR and UP get their first phone booth test’ about the first Covid-19 testing booth, which was opened in a government hospital in Ghaziabad. The report notes that the model, similar to South Korea’s ‘telephone booth’, will “reduce the usage of PPE kits”.
The Indian Express has a similar lead to TOI’s on ‘Centre’s cue: States want longer lockdown’.
Its second lead, ‘As case count nears 5000, Govt plans big testing push in make-or-break week’, the newspaper notes the Centre’s plans to scale-up testing given that lockdowns in states are likely to be extended. It notes the ICMR advisory “for the use of rapid antibody tests in ‘areas reporting clusters (containment zone) and in large migration gatherings/ evacuees centres’” and that “serological tests are set to be conducted on a wider scale”.
A grim report describes life for Tablighis under quarantine in two Delhi facilities (‘In capital’s quarantine for Tablighis: 1000 in 2 buildings, flat number is ID’). The report says around 1,300 people are under lockdown in three DDA buildings and two alone are housing Jamaat members. Daily fumigation, the presence of the Army during regular medical screening and members being addressed by their flat number rather than their name doesn’t paint a pretty picture.
An analysis by Express in its report, ‘Global tally of recovered closely follows total cases, with 14-day lag’, notes a fascinating trend on global case load of coronavirus and the number of recovered patients. It reveals that a “two week reflection shows the recovery rate is trailing not too far behind the caseload”. The report highlights that the lag between recovered cases and the total caseload is 14 days.
In `Kerala plan…’ the paper says coronavirus-hit Kerala will be very cautious in lifting the lockdown. “A district-wise, phase-by-phase relaxation of the COVID-19 lockdown measures post April 14, lasting till after middle of May,” it observes.
Hindustan Times chooses to focus on just Delhi, in its lead with the government’s “5T plan” of “testing, tracing, treatment, teamwork, and tracking” to contain the epidemic . The report notes that the Delhi Chief Minister’s declaration to ramp up testing to widen the scope of treatment, as a part of the plan, “is an indication that the Capital was bracing for the possible ballooning of the pathogen that has ravaged several metropolises across the world”.
There’s an interesting report ‘Plasma transfusion shows promise in Covid treatment’ based on a research by American journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that expands on how the virus-fighting antibodies from people who have recovered from the coronavirus disease can help cure others. “The basis for convalescent plasma therapy is simple: plasma from a recovered patient carries the specific antibodies that can neutralise the Sars-Cov-2 virus,” the report notes.
The anchor story is about the 76-day lockdown finally being lifted in Wuhan, China where the deadly outbreak started. “The first step towards lifting of the lockdown comes in the backdrop of China reporting on Tuesday zero deaths from the disease for the first time” since January, the report notes.
On a different note, Mehbooba Mufti, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party chief, was “shifted to her official residence that has been converted into a subsidiary jail”. She, however, continues to be in detention.
The Hindu also focuses on the likely extension of the 21-day plan but with an added detail: an interview with Chhattisgarh Health Minister T.S. Singh Deo. He remarks that since people have gotten used to the lockdown, the government should take advantage of this and “deal conservatively with the question of lifting the lockdown”.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the Group of Ministers has “recommended that the closure of all educational institutions and restrictions on all religious activities having public participation be extended till May 15″ as the number of cases drastically surged.
Hindu also gives top billing to yesterday morning’s news that the government had partially lifted the ban on pharmaceuticals — ‘India lifts ban on hydro….’ It details the sequence of events with US President Donald Trump requesting supplies of the malaria medicine and the Centre responding: “the MEA announcement came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said that India could invite “retaliation” if it withheld supplies of HCQ, for which the U.S., Brazil and other countries have already placed advance orders’’, Hindu reports.
Read the report about the tiff between Kerala and Karnataka over the border blockade, which now seems to have been resolved. The Centre told the Supreme Court that “a consensus had been worked out to allow patients requiring urgent medical treatment to cross the Talapadi border [which had been blocked] and access hospitals in Mangaluru”.
The Telegraph is more scathing at India partially lifting the export ban on hydroxychloroquine. Note the headline and the accompanying photograph which says it all, ‘Just grin and bear-hug it, Sir’. “In popular imagination, the chronology, a favourite work of Amit Shah, will play out thus: Washington glared and India blinked,” says Telegraph.
Meanwhile, the health ministry “has suspended until June 30 rules governing the law that bans prenatal sex disclosure” citing the emergency situation. The report, however, notes that this has stirred concernes that “this could be misused by unscrupulous clinics and exacerbate selective abortion of female foetuses”.
Mumbai Mirror’s headline ‘Covlateral damage’ puns on the collateral damage incurred in the face of the pandemic: namely the difficulties faced by patients with other serious ailments in seeking out medical attention. This, the report notes, was especially true of a dialysis centre in the city which shut down after two of its patients tested positive. “This has left 257 people — most of them requiring dialysis twice or thrice a week — looking for alternative dialysis centres, which are not only much more expensive but also far from their homes,” the report notes.
Like most papers, The Tribune’s front page leads with news on a possible lockdown extension and Trump’s hint at retaliation if India does not lift the export ban on hydroxychloroquine. In ‘As Trump hints at retaliation, govt allows chloroquine export’, it credits India with “put[ting] up a brave front”.
In ‘Sans curbs, carrier would have infected 13 a day’, the newspaper covers an ICMR study which has found that if not for the nationwide lockdown, “one person would have the capability to infect 406 persons over 30 days, which means 13.5 persons a day”. Not only does the report highlight how lockdowns are a successful containment strategy but what’s next. “The government today also released guidelines on managing hospitals and facilities for Covid patients and asked states to use technology-based solutions for surveillance and to track the home-quarantined,” notes the report.
Mint’s headline ‘Joblessness Infects Bharat’ is no different from yesterday’s which read ‘Lockdown Shock: Joblessness surges”’. It notes: Joblessness in rural areas, mirroring the situation in urban pockets, spiked to record levels as the effects of the 21-day lockdown to blunt the spread of covid-19 panned out.
However, another report provides a unique angle to rising unemployment. In `Fewer jobs for urban uneducated’,
the newspaper notes that unemployment among the urban uneducated “shot up from 0.9% in January to 18.7% in March”.
The anchor story praises Bhilwara, a small district in Rajasthan which just last week was a deadly Covid-19 cluster but is yet to report any new coronavirus infections in the last five days. This was because of “strict lockdown, strategic containment plan, …[and] dedicated healthcare work”, explains the newspaper.
Business Standard’s lead also covers a possible lockdown extension. However, the newspaper’s anchor story (‘Be ready to fly low till Covid is gone’) provides an update on airspaces. “Indian airlines and airports will have to comply with strict social distancing norms until the coronavirus pandemic is over,” it observes.
The front page also features a cheery report on Sensex’ big gains “to reclaim 30,000” after receiving “positive global cues” amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
In ‘Cash-starved states borrow at steep rate’, the newspaper notes some bittersweet news on states finally receiving funds for the fight against Covid-19. The report notes: “State governments, desperately needing funds to fight a lockdown-induced slowdown, on Tuesday paid a steep price to borrow Rs 32,560 crore from the bond market, even as investors engaged in a negative bidding strategy to preserve their liquidity at a time when the markets are operating with curtailed timings.”
The Telegraph of Kolkata should stop being a TMC mouthpiece. Mamta is fudging Covid numbers .She and the Telegraph will ge their comeuppance sooner than later