Response to COVID-19

Successful COVID-19 Vaccination, Primary Health Centre, Sorapet

June 27, 2022

Getting everyone vaccinated has direct and indirect impacts on society, like low infection rate, fewer chances of public lockdown and school closure etc. But the pace of vaccination in Puducherry was slow during the mid of the year 2021.

Reintegration & Rehabilitation Policies for Emigrants in Kerala: Strategies for a Post-COVID World

November 27, 2020

Given the importance of international migration to Kerala’s economy, old and new migration corridors need to be kept open for those who are willing to re-migrate in the future. A larger migration framework, which clearly outlines India’s approach to migration, is the need of the hour.

Fighting the Pestilence: Lessons from South Korea (III)

November 20, 2020

The South Korean approach to COVID-19 may be difﬁcult to emulate even for countries like the US and the UK, but provides important policy implications for developing countries and needs for strengthening three core competencies: digital technology, efﬁcient health governance, and civic partnership.

Fighting the Pestilence: Lessons from South Korea (II)

November 19, 2020

Seventy percent of 10,400 confirmed cases were tested, treated, and confirmed recovered and sent back home. ‘Nearly 20,000 people are being tested every day for coronavirus in South Korea, more people per capita than anywhere else in the world’, a BBC report mentioned.

Fighting the Pestilence: Lessons from South Korea (I)

November 17, 2020

Global interdependence and domestic factors are two sides of the same coin. Pandemic-induced supply (lockdown-workplace closures/closing borders) as well as (consumer) demand collapse have a deep impact. Lockdowns and the associated effects on consumption and work (labour hours) are demand and supply shocks that increase the severity of a deep recession, exacerbate the size of it but save lives by reducing the severity of the epidemic.

COVID-19 and the Challenges of Virtual Mode of Education in India

September 18, 2020

It is apparent that digital divide and disparity exist across social categories, regions and sectors. A proper institutional mechanism is needed to monitor, assess and bridge this digital divide, thus, taking this pandemic crisis as an opportunity to review the existing disparities in access and uses of ICTs, especially among young learners to help achieve equity in learning.

Vietnam’s Effective and Low-Cost Response to COVID-19

September 10, 2020

Vietnam’s ‘Third Degree Contact Tracing’ approach is unique. Patients who tested positive were labelled ‘F0’ and epidemiologists worked with them to identify, trace and test all the people they had been in close contact with over the past 14 days. Detailed information about the movements of F0s was published in local media (with confidentiality maintained) so that people who had been in contact with them (defined as having been within 2 meters of the person or within an enclosed space for more than 30 minutes) could come forward for testing. These ‘F1’ contacts were tested and quarantined. Close contacts of F1s, the F2s, were also traced and tested and asked to quarantine at home.

COVID-19: Fragility of Health Governance and Women’s Health in UP

September 3, 2020

Recently, UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) concluded that the pandemic could cause around 7 million unintended pregnancies and leave 47 million women unable to access modern contraceptives. Since India is the world’s second-largest population, comprising 48 percent of the female population over the globe, therefore, India inevitably must have become an epicentre of unwanted pregnancies.

Textile and Clothing Industry Severely Hit by COVID-19

August 31, 2020

In the fall of 2019 when the virus hit China, Indian firms began to feel the brunt as India imports various raw materials from China. When the lockdown was announced and within no time became a universal instrument to fight the virus, it brought disastrous economic effects as a by-product. Textile and apparel producers began to press for the relief package.

New Zealand’s COVID-19 Containment Strategy and Outcomes

August 24, 2020

The aim of NZ’s COVID-19 strategy has been not just to contain the virus but to eliminate it through a consistent and sustained set of policies, informed by expert scientific advice and sound common sense. The major strands of that policy-setting included border controls, monitoring the incidence of the disease, physical distancing of people and the observance of some sensible rules of personal hygiene, all clearly communicated to the general public regularly.

Implications of COVID-19 on India’s Fight to Eliminate Undernutrition

August 13, 2020

With disrupted production and supply chain activities in the food market due to COVID-19, it is very likely that the availability of grains, fruits and vegetables will be interrupted in the future. According to Reardon et al (2020) COVID-19 has led to an increase in transaction costs and uncertainty in India’s food supply chains dominated by private players and 92% of food consumption in the country is going to be affected by this disruption.

COVID-19: Lockdown Impact on Informal Sector in India

July 29, 2020

COVID-19 will initiate a new realignment. First, there may be a tendency to use suppliers in more expensive locations (but closer to major markets) by replacing labour with capital. Second, in the medium term, we will see greater exclusion of productive activities by global value chains from the informal economy. Both will be at the expense of countries that want to take advantage of their low labour costs by engaging in manufacturing supply chain.

COVID-19 in Costa Rica: Navigating the Virus

July 27, 2020

It is still impossible to predict what the ultimate outcome of this pandemic will be. Yet, at least for Costa Rica, it will unlikely mean the kind of catastrophe that it has produced in the US, Mexico, Brazil, Nicaragua, and Ecuador. Having a well-grounded, social security system that is universal, financed by a tripartite, solidarity mechanism and accessible to the inhabitants regardless of their economic condition and national origin, makes the difference.

Education of Indigenous People During the Pandemic: The Experience of Ecuador

July 21, 2020

It is essential that the State and civil society organizations consider the real situation of the indigenous population and schools, with a view to implement strategies to resolve the difficulties that have been evident in these three-four months of the health emergency and ensure the continuation of the educational process of indigenous children and adolescents.

Governance in the Time of Corona Crisis: Karnataka’s Response

July 17, 2020

The Karnataka government which received immense praise for keeping the numbers low and developing innovative methods of contact tracing, is now, drawing flak from different corners. The Chief Minister, who initially seemed adamant in continuing commercial activity and was confident the state does not need to do a 180, has done exactly that with this new announcement.

COVID-19: A View on the German Response

July 14, 2020

Because of the two World Wars, the German public is, in general, wary of military display and their privacy laws and public policies are highly scrutinized and the public places a very high value on the freedom of movement. For instance, the outcome to the political debate on whether the army should be enlisted to protect the supermarkets (due to fear of riots owing to the breakdown in supply chains) was unanimous – the public has the discipline to avoid deploying the armed guards.

COVID-19 – A Trigger for Policy Implementation, Economic and Socio-Cultural Behaviour Change in Uganda

July 10, 2020

Uganda started implementing lockdown measures on March 20, 2020 and fully implemented a lockdown on March 30, 2020. It was at this point that all Ugandans started feeling the impact of this pandemic. Following the lockdown, there was an urgent demand food and other life necessities.

Unequal Impact: COVID-19 Will Hit Youth Harder

July 6, 2020

The current pandemic, once more, underscores the requirement of the universal basic income to have a safety net for the vulnerable section of the population. Social protection measures, like unemployment benefits for youth through active fiscal policy, will be a relief for millions of youth affected.

Lessons from Combating COVID-19 Critical for Sustainable Development in Kenya

July 3, 2020

Understandably, climate change, is as dramatic as the COVID-19 disease. In fact, expert opinion has it that if unchecked, climate change stands to claim even a higher number of lives compared to the coronavirus. The main contrast between the two is that climate change is taking place at a slower pace compared to the pandemic.

Kenya’s Response to COVID-19

July 2, 2020

The Government of Kenya largely adopted ‘containment’ as the strategy in the fight against COVID-19. After the confirmation of the first case in the country, the government’s immediate reaction was instituting policy measures and behavioural protocols aimed at averting the spread of the virus especially into the rural areas where most of the senior citizens reside.

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