The Central Government has persisted with the Lockdown as the main, if not, the only
strategy against the spread of COVID-19. Underway since March 25th, this lock-down has
seen two extensions, one on April 20th and now again on May 3rd. These one-size-fits-all
country-wide lock-downs are badly planned and poorly implemented with measures imposed
on the country by the Government using centralizing powers under the Disaster Management
Act.
In India it is the public health sector that has borne most of the burden of providing testing and medical care forthe detection and treatment of over 20,000 Covid-19 positive patients.Considering the significant presence of the private health sector in India, there were expectations that private hospitals and facilities would step up and make major contributions towards managing the Covid-19 pandemic.The private sector has grown significantly in the last two decades, due to government subsidies and policies that actively promoted the privatisation and commercialisation of healthcare.