One year on

Ravages of last year's lockdown may still affect economy

A year ago, as India went into a national lockdown to control the initial spread of the Covid-19 virus, most in the country probably expected the crisis to last only weeks or months. Yet, one year on, the virus is still very much around. Indeed, some states —Maharashtra, in particular — are hitting yearly highs in terms of the number of new infections. Dealing with this wave of infections will be much more difficult than it was a year ago or even last autumn. The problem is not just that pandemic fatigue has set in among individuals, but also that