#IndiaAgainstCOVID19 Telethon: Experts, Celebrities, Sports Personalities, Social Workers Come Together To Fight Coronavirus

New Delhi: NDTV and Dettol India have once again come together to discuss solutions for India's ongoing fight against COVID-19 with #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 campaign. The initiative also aims to highlight the works of the unsung heroes, NGOs and community leaders at the frontline of the coronavirus battle in the country. At the special 2-hour telethon, NDTV's Dr Prannoy Roy was joined by various experts, here's a lowdown on who said what:

Aditya Sehgal. COO Health, RB joining the  #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 Telethon from London said,

We know hygiene is the first foundation of health. We all want to pursue a healthy and happy life. The most important thing right now is that we need to protect the protectors to win this battle against coronavirus.

Talking about tests and technology to battle COVID-19, Amitabh Kant, CEO of the NITI Aayog added,

Whatever we do, it will be difficult to fight the war. It has to be an intelligent battle. We need to use technology, otherwise, it will be difficult to fight the war. On the ground, we have scaled up testing from 1600 to more than 1 lakh people, in the next couple of days, we will touch 2.5 lakh tests per day figures. We are adapting all kinds of tests across the country, I can assure, testing kits will not be a shortage.

Sharing thoughts about life after lockdown, Niranjan Hiranandani, President, ASSOCHAM added, "We should look at resuming work in a phased manner with precautions.”

Indian chess Grandmaster, Viswanathan Anand said,

We need to understand the fact that we all will make mistakes in this battle as coronavirus is a very new situation. The important thing here is whether you agree with anything or not, follow the command and regulations especially with social distancing and hygiene. We all need to break the chain of the spread of COVID-19.

Playback Singer Sonu Nigam talking about precautions that one should take added,  

I'm in Dubai for a month. If I would've come to India, I would've put my family and father in danger as I could probably be a carrier of the virus. Such precautions should be taken at an individual level.

Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director, UNAIDS on the battle against COVID-19 said,

It is an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, it's taking away lives, livelihood, and destroying the economy. There are more than 1 million cases, 1 lakh deaths, and roughly 3 billion people are in some form of lockdown. We are on the verge of entering a global recession. In India alone, millions of people are daily wagers and have no food. We can get out of it by taking the right preventive measures such as handwashing, social distancing. We need to trace, isolate and treat. We can't be out of lockdown until we control the pandemic. 

Former Indian Cricketer Yuvraj Singh on coronavirus outbreak said, "I'm working out every morning. Trying to keep my fitness regime going amid the lockdown.  I also pray for people who are suffering amid the crisis in the country."

Dushyant Chautala, Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana talking about how the lockdown can be eased in a phased manner said,

We have more than 3 lakh labourers in the isolated areas. If companies can accommodate them in their campuses, we may consider to let them resume. Cloth factories can be resumed following social distancing. Protocols like masks, sanitisers and social distancing need to be in place only then we will let them resume work.

Reiterating the importance of precautions that need to be taken after the lockdown, Naina Lal Kidwai on #IndiaAgainstCOVID19 telethon said, 

We have a list of hotspots, but if the green spots are safe we can feed the real estate and construction workers and have labour onsite, we may put them to work with proper regime. We can shut them if they violate rules, but we should at least begin. If we turn to the list of essential services, I would like to see the IT sector to be considered an essential service. In the past, West Bengal, IT sector was always given the focus, because of outsourcing of services. We need to facilitate the norms like social distance, hygiene, testing etc and try to restart those.

Actor Huma Qureshi  and Cricketer Shikhar Dhawan joined the telethon in one of the panels. Huma Qureshi added, 

The industry will see a change after coronavirus. As soon as the lockdown is over, we will start the cinema halls and would ensure measures like sanitisation and social distancing in the theatre. We want to spread positivity, we need to ensure daily wage workers in the film industry are also safeguarded.

On the other hand, Shikhar Dhawan said, “We will win this battle against COVID-19. My prayers are with all the people around the world.”