Sir — The industrialist, Ratan Tata, an ardent dog-lover, has once again taken to social media to find an abandoned dog a new home. Last November, his efforts had led to one such pooch being adopted. This shows that appeals from public figures have a high chance of influencing people to do good. Perhaps other famous personalities should follow in Tata’s footsteps and help a social cause.

Monami Das

Mumbai

Take action

Sir — As if getting afflicted with the deadly coronavirus were not enough, now one also has to contend with unhygienic and ill-prepared quarantine centres as well (“Signal to batten down hatches”, March 17). I, for one, have always dreaded going to an unclean hospital more than catching a virus. Most of the state hospitals in India are highly crowded and poorly maintained. One hopes that the people diagnosed with Covid-19 and advised isolation in quarantine centres will not have to deal with such low standards.

Amit Brahmo

Calcutta

Sir — Although the overall number of Covid-19 infected people in India has been relatively low thus far, without proper measures to prevent its spread, this contagion cannot be checked. The disease has already proven to be difficult to contain even in developed nations. Compared to them, the Indian medical system is severely deficient in infrastructure. Even before the latest contagion hit India, the number of patients in government hospitals mostly exceeded the number of beds available. Social distancing, as such, is impossible. Some state governments have been prompt in organizing ad-hoc quarantine centres, but these are vastly insufficient in number and lacking resources.

It has now been declared that reading material will be provided to patients in State-run quarantines to keep them company. Among these would be a collection of speeches by the prime minister. One wonders if the government should not spend more time devising ways to tackle the pandemic rather than come up with such ingenious ways of spreading propaganda.

Pradyut Roy

Calcutta