Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Maharashtra and Kerala today to discuss the Covid-19 situation as these states account for 80% of the total caseload of India.
PM Modi asked people to err on the side of caution despite a slowdown in the daily cases as the threat of a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic looms.
“We are at a point where there are talks about a possible third wave of Covid-19. In last few days, around 80% of new cases have come from these 6 states. We had seen this same trend around January this year before the second wave hit. States with high caseload should be proactive in containing the spread as third wave looms,” PM Modi said on Friday in New Delhi.
He also urged the states to proceed with stricter measures and focus on ‘Test-Track-Treat-Vaccinate’ approach.
“The government of India has announced an emergency response package of Rs 23,000 crores to combat Covid-19. The states must use funds from this package to strengthen their health infrastructure. Infrastructural gaps need to be filled. There is also a need to focus on rural areas,” PM Modi said in his address after the meeting.
The Prime Minister met the Chief Ministers via video conferencing.
The meeting comes after the Union Health Ministry on Thursday raised the issue of violations of Covid-19 norms in many parts of the country, especially hill stations, and asked the states to focus on the need for focussed public health measures to combat the deadly pandemic.
India registered 38,949 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the overall infections to 3,10,26,829. The death toll reached 4,12,531 after 542 more people succumbed to the deadly virus, the Union health ministry informed on Friday.
There are now 4,30,422 active cases in the country, and they constitute 1.39 per cent of the total cases.
‘Waning immunity, more transmissible variant can be reasons behind 3rd wave’
AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria has said that waning immunity, the emergence of a more transmissible coronavirus variant capable of escaping the immunity shield and lockdown relaxations can be the likely causes of a possible third wave of COVID-19.
Speaking at an event, he said the third wave can be mitigated by following Covid-appropriate behaviour such as maintaining social distancing, using masks, and taking vaccines.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) expert committee has also warned that new concerning variants of COVID-19 were expected to spread around the world, making it even harder to stop the pandemic.
The emergency committee, in a statement, said that the pandemic is not finished yet.
“The strong likelihood for the emergence and global spread of new and possibly more dangerous variants of concern that may be even more challenging to control,” it said.
