‘The pandemic can stop schools, but it cannot stop education’ – 40 quotes from India’s COVID-19 struggle

Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YourStory, featuring notable quotable quotes in our articles of this past week. This special series of compilations focus on India’s COVID-19 struggle (see last week’s post here). Share these quotes and excerpts with your networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights.

After the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the demand for automated [washroom] products has increased as nobody wants to touch anything. - Viknesh Jain, Euronics

Nutraceuticals products are growing in India as consumers are getting more health-conscious. - Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, 9Unicorns

We are going to fully recover (economically) when a majority of us have vaccination. - Kunal Shah, CRED

Mental health is not discussed enough in rural areas, and you get a sense of just how much it is needed during times like these. - Divya Hegde, TIP Sessions Charitable Trust

Herd immunity through vaccination is the preferred pathway. Herd immunity through natural infection will come at a colossal loss of human life and suffering. - Kaja Abbas, LSHTM

The need to make hygienic and homely food accessible to the masses is more urgent now than ever before. - Vaibbhav Arora, Bhojan Tech

Small outbreaks can really start becoming very serious if you ignore them. These are some of the learnings. - Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biocon

According to a WHO report, more than 50 percent of vaccine wastage takes place during distribution, particularly at last-mile delivery. - Taslimarif Saiyed, C-CAMP

With Government & Organisations across the board working on an aggressive vaccination programme, we are hopeful for quicker restoration of normalcy and accelerated hiring scenario. - Sekhar Garisa, Monster.com

India is striving to vaccinate over a billion people at a fast clip. Hence, every vial must be preserved well for full effectiveness. - N Venu, Hitachi ABB Power Grids

The demand for COVID-19 tests has surged almost five times during the second wave compared to the first wave. - Vikas Gupta, MyDiagnostics

We have to learn to live with the virus, complementing vaccines with ramping up investment in healthcare, logistics, and research. - RBI report

There is no single nutrient that will act as a magic bullet to protect people [from COVID-19]. - Philip Calder, University of Southampton

In the second wave of coronavirus, we saw what kind of challenges the ever-changing form of this virus can bring before us. - PM Modi

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The economy contracted last year, for the first time in four decades, by as much as 7.3 percent. - D Subbarao, Former RBI Governor

Owing to the lack of opportunities and resources due to the pandemic, many sports professionals and athletes were giving up on their dreams as they were unable to sustain themselves. - Bhavit Sheth, Dream Sports

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught companies a very important lesson — a need to assess the vulnerability of their supply chain. - Vaidyanathan Jayaraman, SPJSGM

With COVID-induced lockdowns in the last few months, each and every brand is looking for a way to build reach and scale. - Vaibhav Chawla, Wherehouse.io

It’s heartbreaking to see people suffer all over the nation. Although COVID-19 cases have reduced, the situation of numerous families still remains grim. - Sonu Sood

The pandemic taught us many things. It taught us that gender inequality leads to more suffering — and even higher rates of death — for women. - Jigme Konchok, Kung Fu Nun

Organisations need to introduce gender-sensitive and family-friendly policies to effectively mitigate the challenges of the new work-life design. - Amanda Puravankara, Provident Housing Limited

Period poverty has always been a problem in India, but Covid has only intensified this problem. - Anamara Baig, empowHER Foundation

The Covid-19 induced lockdowns have forced us into a kind of involuntary domesticity. At first, it was chaos, followed by coziness, and later imprisonment. - Natasha Garyali, MomJunction

Disruption does not have to mean despair. Instead, we must keep the focus on the twin foundation of repair and prepare. - PM Modi

This year, the pandemic’s intensity is greater. But unlike last year, the duration of the lockdown is less. - Ashu Ratan Khare, Rock and Storm Distilleries

As the economy reopens post the second wave, a dual-pronged government strategy is required to boost consumption and support industry till the demand is well-entrenched. - TV Narendran, CII

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[The pandemic] showed how, done right, the intersection of technology with humanity, can produce some incredible things for the world. - Tim Cook, Apple

The last 8-9 months have seen the transformation of the small merchant. Because of the pandemic, they’ve adopted tech very fast. - Amit Kumar, Shoopy

Since COVID-19 has restricted the scope of physical networking among like-minded entrepreneurs, virtual cohorts have become an integral part of entrepreneurs’ behavioural change. - Archanna Das, ASCENT Foundation

As the COVID crisis continues, digital tools at least offer a ray of hope via timely treatment and daily disease management for saving millions of lives. - Gautam Chopra, BeatO

For digital operations, restaurants need to make sure they follow top safety protocols. - Beerud Sheth, Gupshup

COVID-19 has forced every single organisation globally to look at work-from-home and remote working options. This led to a large number of companies looking at cloud solutions to replace their on-premise infrastructure. - Ritesh Arora, BrowserStack

COVID-19 has accelerated India’s digital transformation as more and more consumers rely on digital services. - Nitin Bansal, Ericsson

The pandemic turned out to be a game-changer for the payments and financial services industry. - Suhail Sameer, BharatPe

Adoption of automation is an imperative for all customer touchpoints and has been further accelerated by the pandemic onslaught. - Sushanto Mitra, Lead Angels

A pandemic has made us realise that this is not something one hospital, city, or country can manage alone. We all need to work together. - Chef Andrés, World Central Kitchen

Art is a reflection of our times, but it can also centre us, make us question certain values, and certainly inspire us. - Kishore Singh, DAG

All of us should learn how to protect our positive mindset, which will not only serve in these difficult times but also help for the rest of our lives. - Ashna Dhanuka

Even in desperate situations, there are always winners. Some industries ended up winning big – like gaming, streaming, and related entertainment, and even alcoholic beverages, to name a few. - Yuko Shimizu, DesignUp 2021

The pandemic teaches us to have our own reflection and start something fresh. - Meldrick Bob, At Adau

The pandemic can stop schools, but it cannot stop education. - AK Srikanth, KLAY

YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).