26/05/2021
SOUTH ASIA: COVID-19’s Worrying New Surge, How journalists can stay safe in the face of variants
The deadly new surge in South Asia threatens to reverse global gains against the COVID-19 pandemic. There is growing evidence from health authorities that more virulent COVID-19 variants are fuelling this current surge in South Asia. Impacts of the deadly new surge in COVID-19 cases across South Asia are unlike anything the region has seen before, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said, warning of a “real possibility” that health systems there will be strained to a breaking point, leading to even more loss of life.
What is unfolding in South Asia also serves as a stark warning to the rest of the world, particularly the increasingly vaccinated western countries, that this pandemic has not gone away and this is no time for complacency. South Asia’s tragedy is the world’s tragedy and it cannot go ignored, and South Asian journalists play a vital role in keeping that story alive. In covering this very worrying COVID surge, many journalists have themselves fallen victim to the disease that has become more transmissible due to the emergence of new variants. For many journalists in the region, it is a daily toss-up between their personal safety considerations and their professional obligation to inform the public on COVID, that is crucial to fighting the disease — which means doing in-person interviews and interviewing medical personnel in overcrowded emergency rooms where viral transmission is high.
On Wednesday 26 May 2021 at 4:30PM (New Delhi); 4:45PM (Kathmandu) and 5:00PM (Dhaka) join Internews for a webinar titled: 'SOUTH ASIA: COVID-19’s Worrying New Surge, How journalists can stay safe in the face of variants’ with:
Ranjit Devraj: Consultant scidev.net based in New Delhi, India
Dilrukshi Handunnetti: Executive Director at Center for Investigative Reporting, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Surendra Phuyal: Freelance journalist, Kathmandu, Nepal
Shameem Sheuli: Program Manager Internews, Dhaka, Bangladesh
The webinar will be moderated by Internews’ Pandemic Mentors Dr Jaya Shreedhar and Sonny Krishnan
