Act decisively to curb 'second peak' of COVID-19: PM Narendra Modi to CMs

Meeting Chief Ministers amid growing alarm over resurgence of COVID19 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged them to act fast against the emerging second peak of the pandemic warning if we do not stop this now a countrywide outbreak can occurHe called for taking quick and decisive steps for stopping this second peak of COVID19 virus in the meeting held via video conferenceStressing the importance of solving problems of local governance he warned that the confidence which came from the achievements in the battle against COVID19 should not turn into negligence as he expressed concern about the high positivity rate in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh with 70 districts witnessing a 150 per cent rise in the last few weeksStop this emerging second peak of corona immediately he urged the Chief MinistersAt the same time Modi stressed that the public should not be brought to panic modeThe Prime Minister noted the need for provision of micro containment zones and to be serious about Test Track and Treat as we have been doing for the last one yearIt is very important to track every infected persons contacts in the shortest time and keep the RTPCR test rate above 70 per cent More RTPCR tests should be done in the states like Kerala Odisha Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh which give more emphasis to Rapid Antigen Tests he saidThe Prime Minister urged to increase testing and to pay special attention to the referral system and ambulance network in small citiesThis is because now the whole country has opened up for travel and the number of people travelling has also increased There is need for a new mechanism for sharing information among people he said focusing on responsibility of following SOPs for surveillance of the contacts of the travellers coming from abroadThe Prime Minister also said mutants of coronavirus must be identified and their effects assessedLauding the increased pace of vaccination in the country and the vaccination numbers crossing more than 3 million in a single day he however warned that the problem of vaccine doses wastage must be taken very seriouslyCiting the vaccine waste in Telangana Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to the tune of 10 per cent Modi sought immediate correction in the drawbacks of planning and governance at the local level to reduce thisThe 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 situationThe Prime Minister also told the Chief Ministers said that more than 96 per cent of the cases in India have recovered and India has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world as he stressed the basic steps wearing masks maintaining physical distance and taking care of cleanliness to prevent the spread of this infection should not be abandonedThere should be no laxity in such steps and peoples awareness will have to be raised on these subjects he said He also called for increasing the number of vaccination centresThe Prime Minister further asked the Chief Ministers to stay vigilant about the vaccine expiry dateDawaai bhi aur kadaai bhi he insistedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever