Stop ‘second peak’ of pandemic, Modi tells Chief Ministers

Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, March 17 (EMN): In the light of the recent surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in some states after a lull, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged the chief ministers of various states to stop the emerging “second peak” of Covid-19 immediately, warning that a country-wide outbreak can occur “if we do not stop this growing pandemic now”.

The prime minister was addressing the chief ministers of various states via video conference to discuss the pandemic situation and challenge of maintaining Covid-appropriate behaviour in the general public.

Modi said that more than 96% of Covid-19 cases in India have recovered and the country is having one of the lowest fatality rates in the world, informed an update from Prime Minister’s office via PIB.

However, he expressed concern over the high positivity rate in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, adding that 70 districts of the country witnessed 150% rise in the last few weeks and urged the lawmakers to stop a possible country-wide outbreak.

For stopping this emerging “second peak” of Corona, the prime minister stressed on the need to take quick and decisive steps as well as address the growing lack of seriousness among the local administration about the use of masks.

He further said that they should not create panic among the public “and at the same time also get rid of trouble”.

Noting that there has to be provision of micro containment zones, the prime minister stressed on the need for seriousness about ‘Test, Track and Treat’ as has been doing over the past one year.

“He said it is very important to track every infected person’s contacts in the shortest time and keep the RT-PCR test rate above 70 percent. He insisted on more RT-PCR tests in states which give more emphasis to Rapid antigen tests like Kerala, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and U.P,” the update read.

While stressing on the need to identify mutants of coronavirus and assess their effects, Modi lauded the “continually increased pace of vaccination in the country and the vaccination rates crossing more than 3 million vaccinations in a single day”.

Noting that vaccine doses wastage in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh is to the tune of 10 percent, he urged the states to take this problem seriously and “immediately correct the drawbacks of planning and governance at the local level to reduce vaccine waste”.

He also called for increasing the number of vaccination centres and asked to stay vigilant about the vaccine expiry date. 

Home Minister Amit Shah listed the districts that the chief ministers need to put special focus, in order to contain the spread of the virus, while the Union Health Secretary gave a presentation on the current Covid situation in the country and the vaccination strategy.

The chief ministers attending the video conference agreed on the need for greater vigilance and monitoring of the situation. They also suggested expansion of the vaccination coverage.

Rio meets with Gadkari

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio wrote social media that he had a video conference with the prime minister and the home minister on Wednesday.

“Discussions were held on the rising Covid-19 positive cases in some states. The Hon’ble Prime Minister called for quick and decisive steps to handle the situation,” he tweeted.

He went on to write that he met with the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari,  and discussed matters related to development of road transport in the state.

“I am grateful to him for his constant support to various development projects in Nagaland,” he wrote.