States are adding hospital beds, but are there enough doctors and nurses?

Bihar already has a shortage of nurses, Chhattisgarh has a shortage of doctors. Many other states might not have resources if active cases double

A pivotal highlight of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s last month’s public address—the state has since imposed a lockdown—was cautioning people that even if the state does add more beds, ventilators and ICUs, constraints like human capital cannot be addressed in the short-run.

Last year, Mumbai had to source doctors and nurses from Kerala to get the situation under control. Many other states had to draft fourth- and fifth-year medical students to address the rising cases. The crisis this year is no different. Some hospitals are actively looking for nurses to man their Coronavirus (Covid-19) wards.

“We are discussing the