Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday interacted with the Chief Ministers of various states regarding the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the country.
The challenge of maintaining Covid appropriate behaviour in the general public was discussed in the meeting, with the CMs agreeing on the requirement of greater vigilance and monitoring of the situation.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was also part of the meeting, listed out the districts on which the Chief Ministers need to put special focus, in order to contain the spread of the virus. The Union Health Secretary also gave a presentation on the current coronavirus situation in the country and the vaccination strategy.
“Till now, more than 96% of the individuals tested positive in India have recovered. India has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world, although the current high test positivity rate in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh is a source of concern. Seventy districts of the country witnessed 150 percent rise in the last few weeks. We have to stop this emerging second peak of corona immediately. If we do not stop this fresh wave now, then a countrywide outbreak can occur,” the Prime Minister told CMs.
For stopping this emerging “second peak” of Covid-19, the Prime Minister stressed the need to take quick and decisive steps. Noting that the seriousness of the local administration about the use of masks is going down, the PM called for immediate addressing of the governance problems at the regional level. He warned that the confidence which came from the achievements in the battle against the first wave should not turn into negligence.
PM Modi further stressed that the public should not be brought to panic mode and at the same time there was a need to get rid of trouble by incorporating strategies that have been success in past experiences and efforts.
The need for micro containment zones was noted during the meet with the stress to be serious about ‘Test, Track and Treat’ strategy. There was emphasis laid out on keeping the RT-PCR test rate above 70 per cent.
“There is a need to increase testing and we need to pay special attention to the ‘referral system’ and the ambulance network in smaller cities. With the lockdown ending, the whole country has opened up for travel, which brings renewed focus on information sharing among states. From the Centre’s side, I can say that there is an increased focus on surveillance SOPs of travellers coming from abroad,” said PM Modi.
The Prime Minister said that “we need to identify mutants of coronavirus and assess their effects”. He lauded the continually increased pace of vaccination in the country and the vaccination rates crossing more than 3 million vaccinations in a single day. At the same time, there was a warning to take the problem of vaccine doses wastage very seriously. He noted that the vaccine waste in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to the tune of 10 per cent. He urged to immediately correct the drawbacks of planning and governance at the local level to reduce vaccine waste.
PM Modi summed up that along with the above steps, the basic steps to prevent the spread of this infection are wearing masks, maintaining physical distance, taking care of cleanliness etc. He urged that there should be no laxity in such steps and people’s awareness will have to be raised on these subjects. He called for increasing the number of vaccination centres and asked to stay vigilant about the vaccine expiry date. “Dawai bhi aur kadai bhi (need both medicine and vigilance),” insisted the leader.