The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Fears for India’s most vulnerable amid new COVID-19 wave that’s spreading like ‘wildfire’
A new wave of COVID-19 infections is spreading like “wildfire” across India, leaving many youngsters destitute, amid reports of four new cases every second and more than two deaths every minute, the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF said on Friday.
In the last 24 hours, India registered 3,915 coronavirus deaths and 414,188 cases “which is the highest daily case count recorded by any country in the history of COVID-19 pandemic”, said Yasmin Haque, UNICEF Representative in India.
“UNICEF is of course very concerned about this deadly daily surge of in new cases,” she added. “This wave is almost four times the size of the first wave and the virus is spreading much faster. On an average, there were more than four new cases every second and more than two deaths every minute in last 24 hours.”
The UN official noted that health facilities have been overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, amid reports that pregnant women have struggled to find the support they need to give birth.
“With 27 million births and 30 million pregnancies every year, life-saving services to help women give birth are critical in India,” Haque said. “What is happening in India should raise alarm bells for all of us. The pandemic is far from over. COVID-19 cases are rising at an alarming rate across South Asia, especially in Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.”
Very low levels of vaccination in most South Asian countries - less than 10 per cent in India, Sri Lanka and Nepal – were also adding to concerns of the virus spiralling even further, the UNICEF representative maintained.
UNICEF is also concerned that the COVID-19 surge has also led to “dire consequences” for a greater number of children than during the first wave of infections, with access to essential health, social, protection and education services constrained.
“Children are facing mental health issues and are at greater risk of violence, as lockdowns shut them off from their vital support networks,” Haque explained.
Although there is no indication that the proportion of children getting infected is any different to the first wave, “the numbers are far greater”, she insisted. “We’re seeing the virus entering a household; it just takes one member of the household to be affected and it seems to spread like wildfire throughout the family.”
This has been accompanied by a likely spike in illegal adoption pleas on internet platforms by families desperate to find homes for orphaned relatives, prompting fears of child exploitation, the UN official explained.
Authorities were “beginning to pick up on numbers” of vulnerable children, the UNICEF official continued, in a call to promote family tracing and speedier help for destitute families.
“When we see that children are being orphaned and we do see that there is a lot of trafficking of children which is reported, children go missing, those systems are beginning to pick up on numbers and that’s where we’re trying to strengthen that there is a greater alertness around any family seeing that children have been affected get reported…While there isn’t enough data yet, we can see that illegal adoption pleas have surfaced on social media, making these orphans vulnerable to trafficking and abuse.”
ends
STORY: India – COVID-19 Alert - UNICEF
TRT: 02 min 23s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 7 MAY 2021 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying, a cloudy day.
- Wide shot, TV broadcasting in foreground and podium to rear, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Yasmin Haque, UNICEF Representative in India: “UNICEF of course is very concerned about this deadly daily surge of new cases. This wave is almost four times the size of the first wave and the virus is spreading much faster. On an average, there were more than four new cases every second and more than two deaths every minute in the last 24 hours.”
- Medium shot, attendee using listening device and taking notes, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Yasmin Haque, UNICEF Representative in India: “What is happening in India should raise alarm bells for all of us. The pandemic is far from over. COVID-19 cases are rising at an alarming rate across South Asia, especially in Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.”
- Medium shot, attendee sitting in front of laptop, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Yasmin Haque, UNICEF Representative in India: “On the numbers of children directly affected by the virus, we haven’t seen yet any indication that the proportion is any different to what we saw in the first wave, however the numbers are far greater; we’ve seen the virus entering a household; it just takes one member in the household to be affected and it seems to spread like wildfire throughout the family.”
- Close-up, attendee wearing glasses and face mask, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Yasmin Haque, UNICEF Representative in India: “When we see that children are being orphaned and we do see that there is a lot of trafficking of children which is reported, children go missing, those systems are beginning to pick up on numbers and that’s where we’re trying to strengthen that there is a greater alertness around any family seeing that children have been affected get reported.”
- Medium wide shot, attendees sitting in briefing room, Room XIV, Palais des Nations
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Yasmin Haque, UNICEF Representative in India: “While there isn’t enough data yet, we can see that illegal adoption pleas have surfaced on social media, making these orphans vulnerable to trafficking and abuse.”
- Wide shot, podium in foreground and near-empty Room XIV in line with COVID-19 distancing measures to rear, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Yasmin Haque, UNICEF Representative in India: “Very low levels of vaccination in most South Asian countries (less than 10% in India, Sri Lanka and Nepal) is also adding to the concern of the virus spiraling even further.”
- Medium shot, TV broadcasting, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- Medium shot, attendees sitting in briefing room, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- Medium shot, speaker on podium in foreground and attendee typing on phone to rear, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The appointment on Thursday of Karla Quintana as head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic is a key development after nearly a year and a half of work by the UN Human Rights Office supporting the institution’s launch.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNICEF , UNRWA , WHO
The head of the UN migration agency stressed on Friday that Syria is in no position to take back millions of Syrians following the fall of the Assad regime, while there is an urgent need to “re-evaluate” sanctions impacting the war-ravaged country.
1
1
1
Edited News | IIIM , UNHCR
Syria: ‘Key priority’ is to preserve evidence of crimes – UN investigators
In Syria, new access to evidence of horrific human rights violations means that accountability may be closer than ever – if only proof can be preserved, a top UN investigator said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OSE , ICRC , UNHCR
Syria: UN and partners urge action to preserve evidence of prison atrocities, stabilize country
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria five days ago, hundreds of people have rushed to Saydnaya prison, desperate to find loved ones. Disturbing images from the prison and other detention centers have since surfaced, exposing the “unimaginable barbarity Syrians have endured for years,” said Jenifer Fenton, spokesperson for the UN special envoy for Syria, on Friday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: “Sickening normalisation” of suffering, amid attacks on people and aid convoys
Ongoing military operations by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in Gaza continue to devastate Palestinian children and families, with mounting casualties and a critical lack of humanitarian aid for the desperate population.
“Local media reporting here that last night, 30 people were killed in this area in strikes” said a senior emergency officer with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Louise Wateridge, speaking to reporters in Geneva from central Gaza.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Rights experts call for end to impunity for Israel’s violations of international law
Four independent human rights experts have jointly called for the international community to sanction Israel’s conduct of hostilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as in the wider Middle East region - including in Syria, Lebanon and Iran. They also called for the restoration of trust in the international justice system through the abandonment of “extreme interpretations” and “double standards” in the application of the universal norms regulating the conduct of war.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR
Syria: needs continue to grow amid highly uncertain situation, say aid teams
The historic power shift in Syria and the still volatile situation two days after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime have increased humanitarian needs in a country where nearly 17 million people, including millions of internally displaced, already depended on humanitarian aid before the recent events, UN aid teams said on Tuesday.
2
1
3
Edited News , Press Conferences | OSES
Barely 48 hours since opposition forces including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept into Damascus and forced out President Bashar al-Assad, the top UN negotiator tasked with helping Syrians’ create a peaceful and democratic future insisted that nothing could be taken for granted.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday called on States to do all in their power to end senseless conflicts and suffering.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
No evacuation order given before Kamal Adwan Hospital strike, says WHO
One of the last partially functional health centres in northern Gaza was reportedly hit again overnight into Friday by several strikes, leaving four health workers among the casualties and the dead, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | OCHA
More than 280,000 people have been uprooted in northwest Syria in a matter of days following the sudden and massive offensive into Government-controlled areas led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is sanctioned by the Security Council as a terrorist group.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has called on the Georgian authorities to respect and protect the rights to freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly following several nights of protests that were marred by violence, and dispersed using disproportionate, and in some cases unnecessary, force by the police in the capital, Tbilisi.