The next steps

Lockdown has helped, but testing must be scaled up

It is by now certain that the lockdown will be extended for a large part of the country. This decision is no doubt sensible, and many public health experts will agree that it is necessary to reduce India’s chances of reaching the community infection stage of the pandemic. The government has said without the lockdown, Covid-19 cases could have spiralled to 820,00 by April 15, and with containment measures and no lockdown, it could have gone up to 120,000. Yet that is not the only aspect of the issue to be considered. The government should also be working on a