May 2021. Australia has been pursuing an elimination strategy against Covid-19 as we try to restart the economy without opening our international borders. The recovery has outstripped predictions but it’s fragile as India suffers a catastrophic second wave with a double mutant strain that has now reached our shores. The challenge is to vaccinate the population but also to develop drugs that will allow us to live with the virus for the next few years. Investigative reporter Adam Shand reports.

EP1. Dr Kumud Dhital is a heart lung transplant surgeon. His private clinic in Hyderabad India has been transformed into a Covid-19 intensive care unit. Dr Dhital is also working with an Australian company Covirix Medical to develop anti-viral drugs against Covid. Colleagues in Australia Richard Li and Dr Simon Tucker say such drugs won’t be available until at least the end of 2021.

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