COVID-19 and lockdown policy: Insights on the Indian situation

India reported its first severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) case on January 30, 2020 but took almost two months to decide on a national lockdown to implement social distancing. However, two months after the lockdown, the data shows that the lockdown helped improve testing rates but has not been able to curb the spread of the virus. Also, there is evidence to suggest that the virus had spread in the population even before the lockdown started. India consistently detected a much higher number of cases than any other country for a similar population testing rate. This does not reflect well for the future. Delayed policy response in-spite of evidence along with technical, administrative, social and behavioral factors have all contributed to this situation. A policy entrepreneurship process utilizing contingencies with effective use of evidence and stakeholder engagement is essential to respond effectively to the COVID-19 situation in India.