India Coronavirus Dispatch: Why decongesting prisons may not be enough

Nashik stands out on safety measures, effect of new paediatric illness linked to Covid, and why swab method for sample collection may not be the best--news on how India is coping with the pandemic

Nashik’s sanitation workers: Maharashtra’s Nashik has done better than other Indian cities. In this field visit, the writers took a look at the conditions of frontline sanitation workers in the region. Officials in the city were well-equipped in terms of access to protective gear. However, it was the informal manual workers who were lagging behind in terms of safety. These workers do not feature in the city’s blueprint while forming sanitisation plans. The workers provide essential services and special care must be taken while dealing with waste from containment zones and quarantine facilities. The writers recommend that the administration’s response