INTERVIEW PREPARATION SERIES: Covid Questionnaire

1. Scientific Dimensions:

1. What are Composition and structure of virus?
2. What is difference between virus and bacteria?
3. Why only vaccine can treat viral diseases?
4. Which family of virus Covid belongs and why it is “novel” corona virus?
5. Was the outbreak of Covid 19 a leakage from a chemical weapon lab and what is a chemical weapon?
6. What is symptomatic and asymtomatic with respect to Covid?
7. Medicines being tried for possible treatment like aids or malaria medicines, plasma therapy; some medicines and vaccines being tested etc and especially which Indian labs or universities are contributing to this?

2. Health Infrastructure and Preparedness:

1. What is state of public health infrastructure in general and their preparedness to tackle and confront the Covid pandemic in particular?
2. What is required in hospitals and for doctors to fight Covid-19 and do we have enough facilities and manpower;
3. Are the facilities available, accessible and affordable?
4. What measures government has taken to add up to health facilities and augment resources for the same?

3. Covid related Policy Responses :

1. Lockdown, isolation, quarantine etc. and their efficacy;
2. The lock and unlock dilemma in Europe, U.S and India;
3. Management of lockdown and unlocking in federal structure and lack of sync between Center and state governments etc.

4. Socio-Economic Ramifications :

1. Who bears the main brunt of the Covid pandemic, poor or rich, male or female, children or the aged and social responses?
2. The plight of migrated labour in India and who is responsible, abrupt lockdown policy or employers indifference or labourers frustration and fear?
3. An scrutiny of role of public institutions, Central and state governments in case of desperate reverse migration of labour;
4. Social stigma and contempt against home coming labour, increasing domestic violence against women during the pandemic, psychological cost of the Covid leading to extremes like suicide and lessons from all this.

5. Economic Front:

1. What are the effect of Covid 19 on global and Indian growth and unemployment?
2. Government and corporate sector revenue, pay and incentive cuts and their effect on domestic demand -led growth at the time of global recession.
3. Effect of Covid on poverty and standard of living.
4. Government’s social security initiatives and policy measures to revive the economy and their effects on macro-economic stability, fiscal deficit, inflation, indebtedness;
5. Supply of food and health essentials to people during the Covid and role of government and non-government organisations, Civil society etc.

6. Covid and World:

1. Role of multilateral financial institutions during the Covid-19 outbreak.
2. Scrutiny of role of China in the Covid-19 outbreak and spread.
3. Why the golden spots of development became hot spots of Covid-19 such as Europe and the US.
4. lessons from the South Korean and Singapore way of Covid-19 management.
5. lessons from Swedish community immunity-based opening of the economy and society and is it possible to adopt such a policy in populated and developing countries like India?
6. Role of religious zealots and fundamentalists in spreading the Covid-19; importance of international cooperation in the time of Covid etc.

7. Larger issues for the future of humankind post Covid such as:

1. Likely changes in market, democracy and Capitalism.
2. Changes warranted in development policies such as the issue of inequality, human development gross happiness index and sustainable development;
3. Role of Public Health Service and private health services in health management at normal times and at the time of pandemic.
4. Role of insurance in public health;
5. Role of transparency and trust in international governance, communication and cooperation;
6. Is it last fatal pandemic that humanity is facing or due to climatic change and anthropogenic interventions in nature’s cycle many more newer pandemics and sisters would continue to occur more frequently?
7. Should government’s give a re-thinking on future of wars especially do nations need war and mammoth expenditure on war preparedness and efforts even after facing the Covid-19?
8. Is China’s opportunism and policy of military expansionism a global problem and it requires global response and action etc.

Disaster management:

1. How prepared are we for a pandemic in terms of preparation?
2. Do we have adequate funding? What is the status of contingency fund of India, how it helps in such situation? What is the status of PM care fund?
3. What infrastructure do we have to deal with multifold disaster, such as contagious virus, poisonousness gas leaks, and cyclone?
4. How the lockdown allowed us to develop infrastructure?
5. How the additional infrastructure developed now be taken care-of? Will it have same fate as the 40 cr balloon purchased for CWG opening ceremony in 2010?
6. What is status of NCDC and how has it affected the healthcare system in country during pandemic?

Indian Economy

1. The fiscal year 2020-21 will not have much revenue from Income tax and corporate tax. Do you think increased taxes on alcohol and petroleum and other sin goods will make up for lost revenue?
2. Tourism supports 10% households in India directly or indirectly and as per reports it may take 2 years for people to start travelling again normally. How to ensure livelihood of these people for such a long time?
3. Will corona create a first-time contraction in Indian economy after independence and increase below poverty line population after 1980s?(answer should be sure yes, all experts agree on that, they only argue on how much, most likely contraction will be 2-4% and poverty increase could be 3-5 percent.)

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