Left, Right & Centre

At his fourth video conference meeting with chief ministers, sources say Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for an extension of the lockdown in red zones that have a high number of cases, while allowing economic activities to carefully resume in orange and green zones with social distancing in place. On Left, Right and Centre, we ask if India can afford another lockdown.

The race to develop an effective vaccine against coronavirus has gathered some pace. Clinical trials on humans have begun in the UK with Germany to follow in a few days. On the show we discuss if will we get a vaccine to fight coronavirus sooner than later?

The demands from all sections of industry, be it small or medium scale, and various other sectors of the economy, are huge and the government at present is not flush with funds. The Centre has already projected the fiscal deficit at 3.5 per cent. Many experts say it will be impossible to achieve in the present scenario as the economy was in a bad situation even before coronavirus struck.

Lawyer Gautam Bhatia talks to NDTV about how the lockdown affects one set of people more than the others. "One of the issues that has been raised is that if you lift the lockdown too early, then the manner the which it will overwhelm the health sector would be difficult. The more important issue is that lockdown impacts one set of people more than others," he said.

Trinamool Congress's Derek O'Brien questioned the Centre why they had not sent an inspection team to Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh or Tamil Nadu but only to West Bengal. "Anyone who comes to visit the state is welcome because we are fighting COVID-19 together. One party has decided not to fight COVID-19 but to fight another political party. Why haven't you sent anyone to UP, Gujarat, or to Tamil Nadu? They can send to Indore because in one district here are 1,500 cases. In Bengal, we have 300 cases in seven districts. Tell us what reasoning the Prime Minister has?" he asked.

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has appealed to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to co-operate with the centre in the fight against coronavirus. "COVID-19 fight in West Bengal has raised some issues. I had indicated to the government right from day one that this is a fight where we all should be in togetherness. I appeal to Mamata Banerjee, the CM, that this is a time where she must work in togetherness with the central government. Surprisingly she has fallen short of it," he said.

Dr SK Sarin, Chairman of the Delhi government's COVID-19 panel, has said the biggest challenge they face is when an asymptomatic patient starts showing some slight symptoms. "Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was very concerned and rightly so because all these 186 cases were asymptomatic. Our challenge is when someone becomes pre-symptomatic from asymptomatic," said Dr Sarin.

Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja said the state ensured 28 days of quarantine in high-risk places and that proved useful. "The people who caught the coronavirus were under quarantine and our health workers watched them and the minute they developed symptoms, they were sent to hospital. We are now testing all asymptomatic cases also. We have sufficient kits now and we are testing those cases who came from abroad," the minister said.

Writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar said while doctors and nurses are risking their lives in the fight against COVID-19, some people are throwing stones and attacking them and some are even "spreading communal hatred". "In many places doctors and nurses are risking their own lives to fight the virus and people have thrown stones at them. This is so unfortunate and pathetic. It's a shame that people are trying to spread communal hatred and this hatred was there before coronavirus as well. It's so sad and pathetic," said Mr Akhtar.

Experts say that the lockdown announced last month to check the growing number of coronavirus cases will adversely impact the economy. On the show, Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog, says that the economy should bounce back from the third quarter of 2020.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said that the industries in Maharashtra's green and orange zone will be allowed to resume operations but in a restricted manner. Anil Deshmukh, Maharashtra Minister, told NDTV that Mr Thackeray has taken a well informed decision.

Former Navy spokesperson Captain DK Sharma talks about the coronavirus pandemic and how is going to be a long battle. "This virus is a hidden enemy and it is a long battle. We need to be prepared for it - we should not become the care receivers," he said.

AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria says there are a number of trials going on with the drug remdesivir to see if it can be used in treatment of COVID-19. On plasma therapy, which involves injecting patients with rich antibodies of those who have recovered, Dr Guleria said plasma therapy has been used for multiple diseases including ebola. "The basic philosophy is that if an individual gets COVID-19 and recovers from it, he recovers by his own body's antibodies that are able to fight the virus. It means the antibodies stay in his blood. Once he's fully recovered, we will be able to extract the plasma and give it to a patient for helping in recovery," Dr Guleria said. "If this trend continues, if the curve remains flat, then gradually the number of cases will decrease. You may still have a few hotspots... A lot depends on how things behave in the next five to seven days," he said. "The last few days suggest we have stabilised the number of cases. If we are able to sustain this over the next five days or so, I will have confidence in saying we have achieved significant amount of success in not having a sharp spike," he added.

Dr. Naushad Forbes, the Co-Chairman of Forbes Marshall, says that an economic package is missing for the weaker sections of the society amid the coronavirus pandemic. "The unwinding of the lockdown on 20th is very welcome. Manufacturing is largely being permitted to start and this is a welcomed step. What's missing is an economic package for the weaker section of the society," he says.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren speaks to NDTV on the migrant crisis during the nationwide lockdown implemented to fight the spread of coronavirus. "All chief ministers unanimously wanted the lockdown to be extended although I think the decision to take the first lockdown was a very abrupt one and if they had given 2 days of gap period, everyone could have gone to their homes. When the lockdown will be lifted, our problems will increase and there will be a lot of panic because a lot of workers are still stuck in different parts of the country," Hemant Soren said.