The fast hike in Corona cases in India particularly in few states like Maharashtra is alarming and seems to knock the door as a second return of the virus. The incremental growth of Covid infected is becoming a challenge to be tapped urgently and effectively. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today stressed the urgency for the decisive steps for controlling the emerging “second peak” of Corona immediately.
He cautioned that a countrywide outbreak can occur if this growing pandemic is not stopped now.
Taking a serious note of spreading trend the Prime Minister rightly held an interaction via video conferencing with the chief ministers of the states to discuss the serious situation of Covid-19 and remedial measures to checkmate it.
Modi stressed the importance of solving the problems of local governance. He expressed concern about the high test positivity rate in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and rising cases in Punjab. 70 districts of the country witnessed 150 per cent rise in the last few weeks
The Prime Minister said that more than 96 per cent of the cases in India have recovered and India is having one of the lowest fatality rates in the world. He noted the need for the provision of micro containment zones.
It is stressed in the discussion to be serious about ‘Test, Track and Treat’ as it was done last year.
It is very important to track every infected person’s contacts in the shortest time and keep the RT-PCR test rate above 70 per cent. More RT-PCR tests in states gave more emphasis to Rapid antigen tests like Kerala, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh.
The challenge of maintaining Covid appropriate behaviour in the general public was also discussed, in light of the recent rise in the number of cases in some states. The Chief Ministers agreed on the requirement of greater vigilance and monitoring of the situation.
The Prime Minister urged to increase testing and to pay special attention to the “referral system” and “ambulance network” in small cities.
With the whole country has now opened up for travel and the number of people travelling has also increased, the risk has also been increased
Further, there is a need to identify mutants of coronavirus and assess their effects. What is laudable is the increased pace of vaccination in the country and the vaccination rates crossing more than 3 million vaccinations in a single day.
According to the Prime Minister, the issue of vaccine doses going waste is a very matter.
He noted 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.
The Chief Ministers praised the leadership of the Prime Minister in the fight against Covid. They thanked the Prime Minister for the smooth implementation of the vaccination drive all across the country, while also giving their inputs and suggestions to further expand the vaccination coverage.
