Coping with the lockdown

Given the scale of demand contraction, we need a fiscal package of at least 3-4 per cent of GDP

India is now in the second phase of a national lockdown. It took the drastic step when it had recorded only 10 deaths. It seems this is giving us clear benefits in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, though the results are still evolving.

As of now, breaking the transmission chain through lockdown is the route most countries have taken recourse to. The medical community is researching whether contracting the virus makes people immune to it in the long term — as is the case with measles.  Some recovered Covid-19 patients have relapsed. A vaccine is 12-18 months away but,