On March 25, Renata Dessallien, the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in India, hailed India’s comprehensive lockdown in the wake of Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak. She had also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for social distancing.
Dessallien said, “The UN system in India is fully mobilized and ready to further step up its support to the Government of India to fight COVID-19. I believe that if we work together, we can overcome one of the greatest health threats of our lifetimes.” She along with WHO Representative to India, Dr Henk Bekedam, had also met the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan on March 24 wherein they lauded the BJP Government for its “early and robust response.”
“The 🇺🇳 system in India is fully mobilized & ready to further step up its support to the Govt of India to fight #COVID19. I believe that if we work together, we can overcome one of the greatest health threats of our lifetimes” — Renata Dessallien, @UN Resident Coordinator in 🇮🇳
— United Nations India (@UNinIndia) March 25, 2020
On March 24, WHO Executive J Ryan was quoted as saying, “India is a very populous country and the future of this virus will be considered in a very highly and densely populated country. India led the world in eradicating two pandemics, small-pox and polio so India has a tremendous capacity. There are no easy answers. It is exceptionally important that countries like India show the way to the world as they have done before “
#BREAKING: WHO: Exceptionally important that countries like India lead the way in showing the world what can be done to save lives. India led the world in eradicating two silent killers – Small Pox and Polio. India gifted that to the world. India has tremendous capacities. pic.twitter.com/mmIfFDUgEq
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) March 23, 2020
Earlier, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had also praised India’s efforts in containing the spread of coronavirus. The representative of WHO to India, Henk Bekedam said, “The commitment from the Indian government and the Prime Minister’s Office has been enormous, very impressive. It is one of the reasons why India is still doing quite well. I am very impressed that everyone has been mobilised.”
He added, “We have very good research capacity in India and especially at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and department of health research. They have been able to identify the virus. Now India will continue to be part of the research community.”
