Left, Right & Centre

On Left, Right and Centre, we are joined by some of the world's leading experts for some data-driven analysis on why our declining Covid caseload may be an artificial creation. Lower testing equals slower numbers and with vaccination rates simultaneously plummeting, India better be ready for a third wave. We ask: Is India ready for a third wave?

Prof Christina Pagel, Director of the Clinical Operational Research Unit at University College London joins us to look at the implications of the surge of B.1.617 variant (first discovered in India) in the UK. There have been huge concerns as the country opens up after lengthy restrictions. What does the evidence so far say about how effective are the vaccines?

A string of arrests in the national capital over the appearance of posters critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's handling of the Covid crisis infuriate the opposition. Congress leaders have dared the centre to arrest them as well.

18 top scientists from around the world say the theory of accidental release of coronavirus from a lab cannot be ruled out. They say the matter should be taken seriously until a rigorous data-led investigation rules out a lab leak. The experts who penned this letter speak to NDTV.

India reports 3.26 lakh new coronavirus cases, 3,890 deaths in a day. The government says the number of recoveries is more than infections now. The overall case positivity rate has come down to 19.8 per cent. Has the second wave peaked?

Professor Peter Piot, one of the discoverers of the Ebola virus in 1976, has spent his career fighting infectious diseases. He speaks on the lessons India can learn from the global experience.

Several developments are taking place in the fight against COVID-19. The gap between Covishield doses can be extended up to 16 weeks, the centre has said. Is this because we just don't have enough vaccines? There are concerns on Sputnik vaccine, which is going to be available from next week. The World Health Organisation has given its observations on whether vaccines work on a coronavirus strain first detected in India.

Dr Devi Sridhar, professor and chair of Global Public Health, Edinburgh University Med School, speaks on the spread of the B.1.617 in the UK. This variant was first found in India.

You would have heard, anecdotally, how young people were more affected by COVID-19 this time around. Well, there is now some data to back that as well. It's limited data - from Gurgaon. The number of people with Covid in the last one month in this area is the highest for both men and women between 21 to 40 of age but fatalities are of people who are older. We speak with leading doctors from Gurgaon, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Chennai on whether they are seeing a greater impact on young citizens and, if so, in what way.

The central government points out that India's active caseload has declined for the second consecutive day, and new recoveries are outnumbering new Covid cases. What is clear is that several states are showing an improvement, but the worry is that there is no count on the real numbers, certainly not in villages or districts in many states. On Left, Right and Centre, we speak to two premier epidemiologists - Dr Ramanan Laxminarayan, Senior Research Scholar, Princeton University, and Professor Manindra Agarwal, member, National COVID-19 Supermodeling Committee.