‘We are all living minimalist versions of life during lockdown’ – 20 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 focuses 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.

In the forthcoming years, as foreign vaccines become more accessible to the common masses, cold chain infrastructure for vaccines would be a top priority for the effective distribution of the vaccines. - Jesal Doshi, B Medical Systems Luxembourg

Any subsequent waves are expected to be mild in terms of the severity of the disease. - Finance Ministry of India

The lockdowns left many farmers high and dry as it was difficult for the farmers to ship the produce between states, and the mandis were not operational at the time. - Devendra Gupta, Ecozen

Until investments do not pick up, it may be difficult to see most of those 10 million salaried jobs lost since 2019-20 to come back. This could be the biggest hurdle to India's recovery. - Mahesh Vyas, CMIE

While 2021 is expected to see single-digit growth, H2 2021 is likely to drop in comparison to the same period last year, with lower demand [for smartphones], uncertainties around the third wave, persistent supply constraints, and rising component prices along with intensifying inflationary rates. - Navkendar Singh, IDC India

We are all living minimalist versions of life during the lockdown. - Suresh K Nair, BHU

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The edtech industry has evolved rapidly, with the COVID-19 outbreak pushing schools, colleges, and universities across India to adopt online technology-based learning. - Vijeet Pandey, ClassMonitor

With the pandemic and the country going into lockdown, the edtech space has been going up. People have realised you need to reach the children where they were because they were not able to come out. - Gautam Singhania, Quest+

The new normal is going to require everyone to inculcate different skills and practise new behaviours. - Shreyasi Singh, Harappa

We are witnessing a huge need for digitisation with pandemic-led disruptions in international supply chains. Customers are flocking towards solutions that offer better visibility and control over their shipments. - Ramkumar Govindarajan, Wiz

We have seen the power of technology in the worst time that a nation could face, which is the COVID pandemic. - Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and IT

In the current scenario, the most critical transformation required is to pursue a digitally agile business model at an organisational level, and for each of us in our personal and family space too. - Neha Sethi, Teleperformance

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Selling online has helped ensure business continuity. - Monali Patel, Prapti Handicrafts

De-agglomeration could well be one of the legacy trends from COVID-19. And this trend is mainly driven by the digital economy where fresh growth is coming from Tier-II cities. Gopal Jain, Gaja Capital

During the pandemic, the online beauty, personal care, and skin care industries boomed. - Hanisha Kapoor, Archies Beauty

The pandemic has catalysed behaviour change among consumers, merchants, and institutions that will drive the fintech sector. - Kunal Shah, CRED

The pandemic induced significant changes includes shifting patterns in purchases and consumptions, disruptions in the supply chain, logistics and compliance. - Gurprit Singh, Umbrella Infocare

Investors have realised the need to shift their focus to startups that are not only relevant now but will also flourish in the post-COVID world. One such sector is edtech. - Ankit Agarwal, Crejo.Fun

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).