The year gone by was a litmus test for India’s health infrastructure, laying bare not just the chinks in the armour, but the glaring gaps in its health delivery system. The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the months of May and June 2021 revealed just how unprepared the country was to tackle the dizzying number of hospitalisations, or even to provide basic oxygen support to patients with severe disease.

       But now India is much better prepared, say public health experts. According to them, the first six months of 2022 will continue to see the stress on wearing masks and ...