The Conversation Series: Lives and Livelihoods: Strategies Beyond Binary Actions to Curb India's COVID Crisis

India is in the grip of a severe second wave of the pandemic. With the alarming rate of increase both in the daily number of new cases and daily deaths, the healthcare infrastructure is under severe pressure. There is a dearth of hospital beds and oxygen supply; cremation and burial grounds are running out of space.

Scholars and policymakers agree that human interaction must be curtailed to check the contagion. Though there have been several interventions to prevent the spread in India, including quarantine, case and contact isolation, hand hygiene, face masks, public education about personal protection, they all seem to have largely failed. How to reduce the rise in new cases? Is it the right time for India to go into complete lockdown? Is there a strategy beyond the binary choices of lockdown or no lockdown?

Our experts will discuss containment choices beyond binaries, including medical preparedness, physical distancing, accelerated vaccinations, scaled-up testing, closure of indoor spaces, contact tracing & isolation, and beyond. We will also discuss why real-time, reliable, credible data is essential for a comprehensive strategy to defeat the pandemic.