PM interacts with chief ministers over Covid-19

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today interacted with chief ministers today regarding the Covid-19 situation via video conference.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah outlined the efforts undertaken by the government in the battle against Covid, according to an official press release. He also gave an overview of the progress in the vaccination drive in the country.

The Union Health Secretary gave a presentation on the Covid situation in the country, focusing on the states that are experiencing a high caseload at present, and emphasized the need to increase testing in these states. He also shared details of vaccine production and supply in the country.

The chief ministers thanked the Prime Minister for leading the collective fight against the virus. They gave feedback about the Covid situation in their states. They said that the timely initiation of vaccination drive is resulting in saving lakhs of lives. Issues of vaccine hesitancy and vaccine wastage were also discussed.

The Prime Minister stressed a few clear facts. First, the country has crossed the peak of the first wave and the growth rate is much faster than the first one. Second, many states, including Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, have crossed the peak of the first wave. Many other states are moving in that direction. This is a serious concern, he said.

Third, this time people have grown much more casual; in some states even administration too. In such a situation, sharp rise of the cases has created difficulties.

However, the Prime Minister emphasized, that despite the challenges, we have better experience, resources and, also the vaccine. People’s involvement along with hard working doctors and health care staff has contributed a lot in managing the situation and they are still doing so.