The Centre has extended the national lockdown to contain the spread of covid-19. But lockdowns come with significant economic costs.
The issue is one of a trade-off between managing the health and economic dimensions of the crisis. Mint analyses the economics of lockdowns. What prompted the lockdown extension? The initial lockdown was announced for 21 days with the intention of flattening the curve and preventing the spread of covid-19, creating a public health challenge due to the differential capacity of the healthcare system across districts.
Although the number of cases in India has been growing slowly, there are concerns they are yet to peak and that this will come over the next 10 days as comprehensive testing is carried out in