Harvard South Asia Institute

In the third episode of The COVID Chronicles podcast, Dr. Satchit Balsari speaks with Manoj Mohanan, Associate Professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. His team’s paper published in the Lancet Global Health reports that seroprevalence (the number of individuals in a population who test positive for a specific disease based on serology specimens) in Mumbai varies from 55 to 61% in the slums in Mumbai to 12 to 19% in non-slum settings. The discussion focuses on the findings and implications of this report. Mohanan takes a step back and evaluates the administrative response to the pandemic and how testing could have been conducted more effectively. He observes that the pandemic has shown to light the existing socio-economic disparities. Discussing how best the government can fight misinformation and allay the apprehension of the public regarding the vaccines, Mohanan highlights the importance of clear communication from all levels of government and civil society.