Since the nationwide lockdown on March 24, various branches of the Indian government have issued dozens of notifications to clarify the scope of the lockdown, develop the health system’s response, and support the real economy and the financial system. These are illustrations of the strength of the Indian ruling elite. It remains to be seen how well these pieces of paper and digital documents translate into effective action. In the United States, projections of the death toll from the pandemic are drawing comparisons with that country’s past wars. The nature of the societal response that is needed has also used war as an analogy for the effort to overcome the virus.