India coronavirus dispatch: The reinvention of the Indian Railways

Here is a selection of articles on Covid-19 from across Indian publications. From the aviation sector workers resting stranded Indians, to on-and-off lockdowns till we discover a vaccine, and how coronavirus affects our kidneys – read these and more in today’s India dispatch.

Expert Speak

Use of war metaphors for Covid-19 divides people, spreads fear: Experts have repeatedly warned against use of military language as it is dangerous and distorts reality. Soumitra Pathare, director of the Pune-based Centre for Mental Health for Law and Policy at the Indian Law Society, agrees with the view. In this interview, he explains the many problems and unintended consequences of using war metaphors.

Citizens Under Lockdown

What’s on their plate? For many migrants stuck in camps amidst the lockdown, home is often hundreds of kilometres away, a separation made worse by the lack of familiar food. There have been protests over food in Surat, Kochi and elsewhere. Read their stories over their daily meals.

Long Read

How the Indian Railways is reinventing itself in the times of Covid-19: Indian Railways, the world’s fourth largest rail network, seems to be responding snappily to the times. It has been busy reinventing itself so that its massive infrastructure — spread across a staggering 64,000 km, with 7,000 stations, and 1.2 million employees — can be honed into a valuable tool during the pandemic. Read more here.

Aviation sector workers rescuing stranded Indians: In these unprecedented times, one of the sectors brutally hit by the pandemic is the aviation industry. They have been grounded, literally and financially. With a blanket ban on international and domestic flights, revenues have seen a freefall, yet national carriers like Air India continue to bring in stranded Indians from the epicentres of infection, help foreigners stuck in the country reach their homes, and also transport essential supplies. Read more here.

Opinion

Phasing out India's lockdown is essential, but with more nuance than what's done so far: A market economy is not an automobile that can stop and restart at the touch of a button. The more severe the lockdown, and the longer it lasts, the more complete is the disruption of the economy, and the slower the recovery. By the same token, the more the economy is protected, the sooner it will bounce back when the lockdown ends. Read more here.

Sewage surveillance can estimate coronavirus spread in the community: Sampling sewage for viral particles is a time-tested method of environment surveillance and is routinely resorted to for understanding circulation of several viruses in the community. Now, researchers in France have found that sewage surveillance can help understand the circulation of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in the human population. Read more here.

Managing Covid-19

You or someone you know tests positive for coronavirus. What happens next? You wake up one morning with a headache and fever. You are coughing as well, but you are not sure if you have difficulty breathing. You wonder if you have the new coronavirus. What can you do next? Read here.

Under strict lockdown, Indore is deploying its Swachh Bharat machinery to deliver groceries: Indore has been under a strict curfew since March 29, with residents not allowed out even to buy food. The Indore Municipal Corporation has been doing home delivery of essentials since the first week of April 2020. Every day, a team comprising a driver, a helper and a volunteer from an NGO set out to collect garbage and also hand out and collect grocery order forms. Read more here.

Health workers on Covid-19 duty say working in protective gear leaves them drained: Necessary though they are, PPEs, especially the complete kit, add to the physical strain of gruelling schedules. With summer already here and temperatures soaring across India, hazmat suits and gloves grow even more uncomfortable. Read more here.

How the Karnataka government is handling food distribution during the lockdown: While rations from the government’s public distribution system is usually only for those who hold ration cards, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had promised that people who didn’t have ration cards were also welcome to avail of free food grains through PDS shops. However, on the ground, this is not the case. Read more here.

Understanding Covid-19

How coronavirus may affect the kidneys: Kidney damage is common in severe cases of Covid-19. However, it is not yet clear if the virus directly attacks the kidneys, or if kidney failure or damage is a part of multiple-organ failure. Read more here.

Convalescent plasma’s success against Covid-19 continues in new study: Convalescent plasma could shorten the duration of a Covid-19 illness or render it less dangerous. The therapy can be administered at different stages – after exposure to a known carrier but before infection to boost immunity, and to critically and non-critically ill patients to improve their outcomes. Read more here.

Video

Lockdowns on and off likely till vaccine hits the market: As we move towards the May 3 deadline for the second lockdown to be lifted, the question being asked is, what next? Has India achieved the purpose of the lockdown? Or will the cases surge in the absence of restrictions? Watch this interview with Dr Mathew Varghese, a veteran orthopaedic surgeon with Delhi's St Stephen's hospital.