NEW DELHI: The world is still in the thick of a raging pandemic, which is continuing to take its toll on humanity, but not many are addressing it in recent times as was done earlier. The virus in India has been spreading like wildfire, but the fear among the people has evidently gone down.
According to WASH (Water, Sanitization and Hygiene) Index, India has ranked very poorly. Now with Unlock phase-1 and the virus at its peak, is India ready to take responsibility in its hand? How can companies put in their best to get through with a lower death toll? Addressing this and more, Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO and editor in chief Anil Wanvari in a virtual round table with industry leaders including Pee Safe’s vice president – growth Pragya Upadhyay, The Man Company co-founder and director Bhisham Bhateja and Apollo Hospital and KMC Centres senior consultant of sales and marketing Dr Nagarajan Pandurangen discussed the issues of health and hygiene in the corporate world, day to day lives and how companies are contributing to improving them.
The panelists said that it is exceedingly important that people continue to adhere to guidelines by the government and maintain social distancing but not emotional distancing. “Brands needs to address that the war against Covid2019 is not over yet; it's still there. It’s important to spread the word,” the panelists said unanimously.
“It's been a difficult situation, both personally and professionally. The initial few weeks of the lockdown were full of struggles but somehow, we bounced back, because most of our products come under essential category and we were looking to serve the people, and these products were required. We even launched our new brand in February, which was to be launched in May. It had products including hand sanitizer and masks, to reach people when they are required the most. But it has been difficult, especially in terms of interstate travel for our team members coming from Delhi and coming down to our warehouse in Gurugram. It has been a challenging two-three months, but we are putting our hundred per cent to ensure that things go well for everyone,” Upadhyay shared.
She added that Pee Safe launched a brand called Raho Safe in March, amidst the rising concern around personal hygiene in India and the consecutive increase in demand for hand sanitizers, multi-surface protectants and other products.
Bhateja shared that The Man Company too has been focussing on hygiene products as well as its own category to serve and support everyone. “For us, the first two weeks of April were completely washed out in terms of business, but we somehow managed to bounce back by regulating the online business and gradually started coming back on track. The offline sale at the moment has taken a backseat, although unlock phase 1 has happened and malls have opened but there are no footfalls yet. We have launched our pro hygiene series where we are offering sanitizers, hand washes, body washes and alcohol wipes because these products are the need of the hour and we are trying our best to fulfill to as many customers as possible.”
Sharing experiences from the hospital front, Dr Pandurangen said, “For the last one or two months, all the ICUs are running full, all the beds are taken up probably by the positive patients, because of which the hospitals are left to fend with no beds, which is not a situation that you see on a daily basis. It’s a rare thing to witness. We see a situation like this in peak season but today we are seeing that every day. We get calls in the middle of the night saying that a person is is need of a ventilator and is going to succumb in a very short span of time and it takes a toll on a person, psychologically too.”
He added that Apollo is trying to make makeshift beds as hospitals are running out. “We are looking at the railway coaches with ventilators. There was about Rs 1500 crore allocated for the ventilators, and we in the healthcare fraternity feel that still might be less. There might be a huge clamour for ventilators which will come up, probably one month down the line. And we are already facing a huge shortage as far as the beds are concerned. So, we are now starting to do home quarantine for people. Apollo has come up with a home quarantine kit, where it contains a thermometer, a pulse oximeter, masks and sanitizers. And we’ve given a booklet which is multilingual so that people can try to take care of themselves at home rather than coming to the hospital. So, it's a question coming out of syllabus for a common person as well as for healthcare professionals. Even in the healthcare sector we have to come up with new products almost every other day.”
