Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday interacted with Chief Ministers and representatives of 10 states, including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab, Bihar, Gujarat, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh via video conferencing, to discuss the current situation and plan ahead for tackling the Covid-19 pandemic.
PM said that almost 80% of active cases are from these 10states and “if we are able to defeat the virus in these states, then the country will emerge victorious in the battle against coronavirus”.
Modi underlined that what has emerged from the discussion is an urgent need to ramp up testing in Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Telangana. He said that containment, contact tracing and surveillance are the most effective weapons to tackle corona. PM added that as per experts, “if we are able to identify the cases in the initial 72 hours, then the spread of the virus can be slowed down”. He emphasised on the need to trace and test all those who had come in contact with an infected person within 72 hours.
PM Modi said that the number of daily tests has reached almost 7 lakh and is increasing continuously. The average fatality rate in the country is among the lowest in the world and is continuously going down. The percentage of active cases is reducing, while the recovery rate is increasing. He added that the target of bringing down the fatality rate below 1% can be achieved soon.
During the interaction with CMs, mention of Home Minister Amit Shah also came. PM spoke about the experience of Shah in preparing a roadmap for tackling the pandemic together with Delhi and nearby states. He said that the main pillars of this strategy were segregation of containment zones and focus on screening, especially of those in the high-risk category. He added that the steps like better management in hospitals and increasing ICU beds proved very helpful.
The Chief Ministers provided feedback on the ground situation in their states. They talked about tests being conducted, steps taken to increase testing, use of tele-medicine and efforts to ramp up health infrastructure. Chief Ministers from Punjab and Tamil Nadu requested more funds from the Centre to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. The states also said that they wanted the 35% cap on state disaster relief funds to fight Covid be lifted as it was not enough.
The Union Defence Minister, Finance Minister, and Health Minister were also present in the meeting.