Pandemic Policy in Developing Countries : Recommendations for India

Each country faces unique challenges in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. India's relatively low healthcare resources, limited state capacity, and large population of poor people, many of whom are already burdened with other health issues, pose challenges on every dimension.The present policy of a countrywide lockdown has imposed enormous stress on the poorest Indians. Arguably, without severe measures like the lockdown, matters could be even worse, as Indian hospitals were already overcrowded and doctors overworked, and a large number of COVID-19 patients would collapse the healthcare system. Also, testing at a large scale is difficult given current capacity, and social distancing and isolation are difficult given India's low per capita living space and its tradition of intergenerational household units.India needs to find local solutions suited to its unique context to effectively deal with the pandemic. In this brief, we collate 10 recommendations for the Indian context, many of which will also apply to other developing countries. These recommendations fall broadly within three categories: 1. increasing testing capacity by removing regulatory and trade barriers, 2. social distancing of family units, using idle government and other buildings, and 3. providing relief for the poor and the economically vulnerable during lockdown