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Nobody can beat Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in beating about the bush. Her press conference on Monday to announce major concessions to people and businesses in view of the Covid virus outbreak in the country was a classic flip-flop.

“This is an unprecedented moment in history, and we need to act in unprecedented ways, no matter what it costs,” declared Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). “We need to guarantee to every American they will not be left hanging,” and that they have the health care, food, and housing they need during this crisis.

Europe is being called the epicentre of the coronavirus, and particularly western Europe, where the responses have varied from the new Socialist-Podemos coalition in Spain nationalising the country’s industry to a total quarantine in France by the neoliberal Emmanuel Macron, criticised for being three weeks too late.

While UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is contemplating to enforce lockdown by the police, as it has become imperative with people not taking seriously the preventive measure of social distancing and staying inside, interestingly the Labour Party is going ahead with its programme of electing its new leader on April 4, to replace Jeremy Corbyn.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Government has declared a total lockdown amidst mounting fears of a community spread of the dreaded disease and alarming rise in Covid-19 cases in the State.

The worldwide spread of Covid-19 continues unabated. Relentless. At last count there were over 400,000 coronavirus-positive individuals in quarantine across the world. India’s numbers rose to 498 positive cases and nine deaths. Global fatalities were several thousands more.

March 23, 1931. The day woke up the people of India shaking their conscience and stirring their minds. Bhagat Singh, along with his two comrades Rajguru and Sukhdev, were hanged to death by the British colonisers. In October 1930, they were sentenced to death in the Lahore conspiracy case.

India shut the door on the deadly Corona virus on Sunday by observing an unprecedented voluntary Janata curfew responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to stay indoors. In a cautious but effective public appeal Modi requested the people of the country to stay indoors from 7AM to 9PM on Sunday. It was in what could be the biggest social-distancing exercise in the world against the novel coronavirus outbreak. Hinting that the country should be prepared for a long haul, Mod tweeted on Sunday night “Today's #JantaCurfew may get over at 9pm, but that doesn't mean we should start celebrating. Do not consider it a success. Today the countrymen have declared we are capable, if we decide we can beat biggest challenge together. ”India stands at the tipping point having reached the stage 3 of the pandemic as confirmed by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on March 22. From here it could take a flattening curve like Korea or upward curve like Europe. Janata curfew is Modi’s idea of mobilizing public support to fight Coronavirus.

Almost all of India is under lockdown as a defensive measure against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID -19), but the ever increasing number of patients and the death cases on account of the disease is a certain indication of the country’s urgent need to fine-tune its strategy. Some new challenges has emerged after the complete lockdown which need to be addressed urgently along with the fine-tuned defensive and offensive measures against the disease and the economic crisis to reduce human sufferings. Law and order mechanism must now be put on high alert to prevent any chaos that may arise in the new scenario.

Way back in the 14th century when medical science was in its infancy, plague broke out in Europe on a massive scale. The pandemic lasted for five years, from 1347 to 1352 and took an estimated toll of 30 million human lives. Today, medical science has become a multi-dimensional specialization, almost daily expanding its horizon of knowledge of aetiology, diagnostic methods and treatment of diseases. But it still occasionally reels under the impact of a totally new and unknown pathogen like a bacterium or a virus. Since it is unknown, the immune system of the body is unable to produce a specific antigen immediately. The body is totally defenceless against such a sudden attack. This has happened in the case of the corona virus attack.