India Coming Together Against COVID-19 campaign, an RB and NDTV initiative, aims to provide a platform to highlight the works of the unsung heroes, NGOs and community leaders at the frontline of the hygiene battle against COVID-19.
It is a small effort to keep Indians well informed with medical facts and the news that matters the most in their daily lives during the current lock-down. A campaign of hope despite of all of us being isolated.
The campaign will recognise and acknowledge the unsung heroes who are at the forefront of this battle against the coronavirus – doctors, the police, community kitchens, the suppliers of essential commodities. Pan-India stories on the effort being made to combat the virus – narrated by the administrators, the police and government bodies. We will also showcase how hygiene and handwashing are critical in this fight against Novel Coronavirus.
Here are the highlights from the #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 Telethon:
Best Moments of #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 TelethonThat's a wrap on this special telethon to showcase how India is taking on the challenge posed by the global pandemic.
I pray for all to get out of this crisis situation soon. For this, we need courage, hope and cooperation with each other, says singer Sukhwinder Singh to close the #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 telethon with a soulful prayer.
We have to fight out the disease with minimum damage. Going beyond how do we move forward, how do we withdraw the lockdown, India Inc. is completely with the government and we are looking at how we can restart the country: Anil Agarwal, Founder and Chairman of Vedanta Resources
Gaurav Gupta of Zomato on he is continuing to serve his customers during the lockdown
- We are taking multiple steps like Contactless delivery in which the rider can leave the food outside the homes and the customer can pick up later.
Practices are being followed to make sure the food users get is safe and the riders are safe
- Apart from 'feed the daily wager' initiative in which we have distributed one lakh ration kits, we are supporting restaurant workers. The users can opt for gold membership and the proceeds are going to help restaurants. We are offering 2-year membership instead of one for this so that more people can be covered
Bhupesh Baghel, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh on how his state is combatting COVID19- We started with closing the borders of the state and then closed all public places. Through media, we have been building awareness on hygiene, sanitation and social distancing
- We quarantined all who came from foreign countries
and have managed to control the transmissions
- We have only 10 cases out of which 8 have been cured. 2 patients are still there and stable.
- We have geared up all public hospitals and have asked all private hospitals to gear up as well but we don't think it will be required
Actor Purab Kohli on recovering from COVID19
Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot on fighting the Coronavirus Outbreak in his state- I am taking care, trying to be careful about keeping physical distance. We know that every country that has taken this virus seriously and has prepared for it has been able to control it
- We have taken a 'curfew' approach. Curfew is imposed in all districts and we are increasing the number of testing
- We are trying to do contact tracing as much as possible and especially focussing on people coming from foreign countries
- We are trying to bring everyone together, all parties, all religion, all people in this fight against the pandemic
- Bhilwara is a case study in itself. It was becoming a hotspot of the virus but we have taken containment measure and cluster monitoring took place. 3,000 teams were deployed for this.
- We started shutting down public places, temples and other places even before the lockdown was announced by the centre.
- The withdrawal of the lockdown will take place in coordination with the Centre. We need to take each step extremely carefully. Both the state and central government need to take many aspects of transmission into consideration.
Parameswaran Iyer, Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation on importance of inculcating handwashing as an habit:
Washing hands with soap is extremely important. The government has started Jal Jeevan Mission which will provide drinking water to all households. I think we saw behaviour change that happened because of Swachh Bharat mission, people will change habit now as well.
Actor, Purab Kohli on being quarantined in London due to COVID19 symptomsThe 7 day quarantine is over for me now. It started with my daughter getting symptoms, then my wife got and then I got it. We called up the services and the doctors. We were advised that it is mild to medium, so we need not worry but must close ourselves inside home.
Actor Kubbra Sait joins in to support the #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 telethon
Dr Prathap C Reddy of Apollo Hospitals on #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 telethon:I think what we are facing today was never anticipated. It is a big challenge and I think our government, Prime Minister and Chief Ministers are taking measures to tackle this situation.
These are not the time for panic but to follow precautions. Following the lockdown and as the testing is happening the curve is going up. The public health care has taken up enormous challenge and private healthcare will join them. As a doctor and healthcare sector player, I am very pleased with the response we have got from the healthcare community, be it ward boy, nurse or anybody else, they are coming forward and facing the challenge together.
Malaika Arora on how she is keeping herself busy during the lockdown
Music Director, Bappi Lahiri sings an old Bengali song he sang with Lata Mangeshkar, "Mongol deep jale, andhokare do chokh aaloye bhoro, prabhu" (Light the holy lamp to cast away the shadow of darkness) to motivate people to fight the pandemic.
Cardiac Surgeon, Devi Shetty on #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 Telethon:
ICMR is the most trustworthy source for medical information.. It is not difficult to get the right information. But internet is full of misinformation. My advice to everyone is just call your doctor and confirm before you take any decision.
Malaika Arora Joins #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 Telethon
Opening the lockdown is up to the central government. The centre has asked us for our opinion about the withdrawal of lockdown. We think that we cannot fully come out of the lockdown. But in certain ways we can ease and hold the restrictions even after April 14: Health Minister of Kerala on Telethon
K K Shailaja, Health Minister, Kerala on #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 Telethon:- We are fighting a war against this pandemic
- We have experience with Nipah virus outbreak also and started a protocol and this time when the virus started in Wuhan we started preparing and planning because we knew that some students from our state were studying in Wuhan university. By January 24, we prepared a control room. All districts also formed district control cell. By January 30 we got our first positive case from Wuhan and on February 2, we got two other cases. We managed them and from them no other contact cases occurred. Contact tracing, surveillance were used extensively to identify the cases and manage them
Tennis Ace, Leander Paes on #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 Telethon
In this time of pandemic, the world has come together. We have now got some spare time to spend with family and do what we want to do. It is so simple. We just need to sit at home. This is how the countries have flattened the curve: Armaan Malik
Singer Armaan Malik joins the #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 telethon
Comedian Atul Khatri joins #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 telethon
Manish Sisodia on Nizamuddin Markaz Masjid incident:We have been saying that people need to practice social distancing and everybody in the world was facing the same. It is not about any religion or community but the instruction should have been followed.
Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi:- Delhi has 503 confirmed cases out which 320 are Markaz Masjid related, 61 cases are people who returned from foreign countries. Based on data we can say that community spread has not happened in Delhi yet. The situation can be controlled
- I want to assure that we have a roadmap if 1000 patients are added per day. The situation is not there yet, but medical infrastructure in Delhi is ready for extreme situations
Coronavirus is a great leveller: Raveena Tandon
N-95 mask are for the frontline workers, others can even use cloth masks. All you need to do are two things: If one sneezes it generates bigger droplets, they can carry virus, so must wear a mask and secondly keep your room ventilated: Dr Naresh Trehan
Hope for the best but prepare for the worst: Dr Naresh Trehan
Dr Naresh Trehan on #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 Telethon:- We have recommended and the government is also thinking on the same line that we need to create COVID hospitals. It can done in two ways: Either to turn the present facility into COVID19 dedicated facility or private hospitals can isolate areas to dedicate it for COVID patients.
- Major hospitals in Gurugram have adopted a 500-bed hospital and we are on the way of converting it to COVID hospitals and if need, this will be enhanced further
- Due to the lockdown, we got some time for planning. Currently we know that Italy was ill-prepared and many doctors have got sick. Now many manufacturing firms are coming forward to help in providing essential items and Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs).
Laxman Narasimhan, CEO of RB on #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 Telethon:- First thing is that it is a human challenge and not just India challenge. We have learnt in school that hygiene is the foundation of health. The UN did a study and found that only 17% of people wash hands. A study in UK say that a third of men and two third of women wash hands.
- Sanitisers are good but soap and water are good enough too. Behaviour change is the key.
- Access to a quality product, information and availability of the product is important. In India we are providing 10 million units of bar soap, 3.5 million masks and we are putting money in behaviour change to fight this.
Actor Raveena Tandon on #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 TelethonI hope everyone stays safe. Coronavirus doesn't care about the religion and class of people. Everyone is vulnerable and it can happen to anyone. Every needs to take precautions. No one is a celebrity now. Humanity is the biggest need of the hour. We cannot afford to be reckless. We need to take precautions for our loved ones and people around us. We need to keep people round us safe.
Actor Raveena Tandon joins the telethon with Dr Naresh Trehan and Laxman Narasimhan, CEO of RB
New data shows that wearing mask is important for everyone whether you are infected or not: Prannoy Roy
#IndiaAgainstCOVID19 2-Hour Telethon gets underway.
Aim of the show is to arm people with the right information.
All set for the show to roll.
Anchors are all set to kickstart the #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 telethon
10 minutes to go for the #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 telethon, technical checks in full swing
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How can India fight against COVID19? Tip 1: Wash your hands, focus on personal hygiene and pay attention to coughing etiquette.
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India comes together to fight against the common enemy, the COVID-19 outbreak caused by the Novel Coronavirus.