The situation in the country is deteriorating due to Corona, PM Modi said – a meeting with the Chief Ministers should be called soon

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday held a high-level meeting with the officials to review the situation of the Corona epidemic in the country. The Prime Minister, in a meeting to review the situation of the COVID-19 epidemic in the country, directed that special attention should be paid to preparedness in view of the increasing number of COVID cases due to Omicron variant. He laid special emphasis on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, on-going preparedness regarding health infrastructure and logistics, status of the vaccination campaign in the country and assessment of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron. A detailed report on the increase in cases currently being reported globally by the Health Secretary was also presented in the meeting. In the review meeting, PM Modi said that the sustained ‘Jan Andolan’ focus on COVID-appropriate behavior is critical in our fight against the pandemic.

Ensure adequate health facilities at district level: PM
A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said that during the review meeting, PM Modi emphasized the need to ensure adequate health infrastructure at the district level. He asked the officials to maintain coordination with the states in this regard. PM urged to intensify the vaccine campaign for adolescents in mission mode. The PM directed that intensive containment and active surveillance should continue in the zones where more cases are being detected and necessary technical assistance should be provided to the states currently reporting high cases.

‘Meeting with Chief Ministers’
PM Modi said that a meeting should be called with CMs to discuss state-specific scenarios, best practices and public health response. He also stressed on the need to ensure continuity of non-Covid health services while managing COVID cases at present. Let us inform that earlier PM Modi had held a similar meeting on 24 December. Though since then, the pandemic situation in the country has changed. A huge increase is being recorded in the daily cases of corona in India, hundreds of cases of Omicron variant have also been reported in many cities.

The meeting assumes significance as around 400 employees working with the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats and allied services have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past few days, just ahead of the budget session of Parliament that begins in January-end. According to sources, 65 employees of Rajya Sabha Secretariat, 200 employees of Lok Sabha Secretariat and 133 employees of allied services were found to be Kovid-19 positive between January 4-8 during routine tests.

Apart from this, this meeting of PM Modi is also important because on Saturday, the Election Commission of India announced the assembly elections in 5 states. The commission has urged the states to expedite the vaccination. At the same time, the vaccination program has also been expanded in the country. Adolescents in the age group of 15 to 18 years are being vaccinated against Kovid, while from January 10, a dose of precaution will be available for frontline workers and senior citizens.

Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairs a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in the country, through video conference pic.twitter.com/EY5u7LAaC3

— ANI (@ANI) January 9, 2022

India’s COVID-19 tally has been increasing rapidly in the last few days. On Sunday, 1.6 lakh cases were reported in India, taking the number of active cases to around 6 lakh. Several states have rolled back weekend curfews, night curfews and other restrictions to prevent the spread of Omicron.