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STORY: INDIA / RESIDENT COORDINATOR COVID-19
TRT: 2:03
SOURCE: UN NEWS / UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 25 MAY 2021, NEW DELHI, INDIA
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Close up, UN flag
25 MAY 2021, NEW DELHI, INDIA
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Renata Lok-Dessallien, Resident Coordinator in India, United Nations:
“The second wave hit us extremely fast. Within a few weeks, it had just shot up. It was highly contagious, more contagious than the first one, and we had very little time. So even though many preparations had been made the first time, nevertheless it took us all by surprise – not that there was a second wave. That didn’t take us by surprise at all. What took us by surprise was the intensity and the speed of the rise of the second wave; and of course its communicability.”
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
3. Close up, UN flag
25 MAY 2021, NEW DELHI, INDIA
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Renata Lok-Dessallien, Resident Coordinator in India, United Nations:
“We're coming out of it now slowly. Some parts of the country are still hurting very badly with the second wave. Other parts have come down, in terms of the numbers. We still are losing some 3,500 souls every day, so it’s still serious. But for the most part, I think we're seeing the other side of the peak for sure, and I think we're all sobered and have learned a lot of lessons for the third wave.”
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
5. Close up, UN flag
25 MAY 2021, NEW DELHI, INDIA
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Renata Lok-Dessallien, Resident Coordinator in India, United Nations:
“I think all of us are now expecting a third wave that doesn’t resemble either of these two waves. But what to expect? I mean, we know that the predictions that have been made over the course of the last year even with respect to when the virus might be peeking, etc. Most of them had been wrong. Right? So, I think we have to be a little bit humble. We have to admit that we still do not know a lot about this virus. We know some dimensions about its mutations but not everything. And so therefore, what we're anticipating is something that we cannot really define yet. Right? All we can say is that it could be like the first wave, it could be like the second wave; or it could be completely different. So, It's rather hard to prepare for something like that.”
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
7. Close up, UN flag
UN Resident Coordinator in India Renata Lok-Dessallien said the “intensity and the speed of the rise” of the second COVID-19 wave in the country “took us all by surprise,” adding in preparation for a third wave, “we have to be a little bit humble.”
In an interview via teleconference on Tuesday (25 May) with UN News, Dessallien said the second wave was particularly devastating and very different from the first, which took some six to seven months to peak. She said the second wave surprised officials with it “communicability” despite the “many preparations” that had been made.
The Resident Cooridatior said India is doing better now. She said most of the country, which has three times the the population of the European Union, has been hit by the second wave, but it travelled within the country at a different pace.
Dessallien said, “We're coming out of it now slowly. Some parts of the country are still hurting very badly with the second wave. Other parts have come down, in terms of the numbers. We still are losing some 3,500 souls every day, so it’s still serious. But for the most part, I think we're seeing the other side of the peak for sure, and I think we're all sobered and have learned a lot of lessons for the third wave.”
The UN official said the second wave was anticipate but the characteristics of the first wave were very different. She said, with vaccines being administered, some complacency set in.
She added that, even though India had expanded its epidemiological response capabilities in the first wave, and some of it had started to contract early this year, the speed with which the second wave took off did not leave much time to expand the response.
Dessallien said, “I think all of us are now expecting a third wave that doesn’t resemble either of these two waves. But what to expect? I mean, we know that the predictions that have been made over the course of the last year even with respect to when the virus might be peeking, etc. Most of them had been wrong. Right? So, I think we have to be a little bit humble. We have to admit that we still do not know a lot about this virus. We know some dimensions about its mutations but not everything. And so therefore, what we're anticipating is something that we cannot really define yet. Right? All we can say is that it could be like the first wave, it could be like the second wave; or it could be completely different. So, It's rather hard to prepare for something like that.”
The UN Resident Coordinator said a much vaster vaccination coverage is needed quickly. She said there have been issues with the supply chain but hoped that in the next few months the production of vaccines will speed up in the country.
Dessallien also highlighted the extraordinary efforts in India being put in at all levels -- centre, state and local. She said the UN is working on all fronts of the response, epidemiological, health systems, and the socio-economic impacts.
