In the past week, India allowed certain economic activities, such as agriculture and certain forms of manufacturing, to resume in rural areas. Since a substantial amount of the country’s workers are daily wagers, the move is logical from an economic perspective.

Nevertheless, the partial easing of the lockdown is almost certain to result in an increase in daily new infections over the coming weeks. Looking at the ability of the Indian healthcare system to absorb the influx of new patients, the move is less logical.

The situation in India resembles the difficult decisions developing countries must make over the coming weeks and months. Governments will have to decide between medical considerations, resulting in an economic crisis, and economic considerations, resulting in a medical crisis.