Modi reviews Covid-19 situation in 6 states

Prime minister Narendra Modi will conduct a review meeting on the Covid-19 situation with six high disease burden states and reiterated the need to take proactive measures to prevent the possibility of a third Covid-19 wave.

The PM spoke to the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Maharashtra and Kerala and pointed out that the visible trend of increase in new cases in the states of Maharashtra and Kerala was a cause for concern. Cautioning that similar trends were seen in January-February before the second wave hit the country, the PM insisted that there was a need to take proactive measures to prevent uncontrollable surges in the states where cases were on the rise.

“…all of us are at a point where apprehensions of the third wave are continuously expressed. Despite experts giving positive signals due to the downward trends increasing the number of cases in few states is still worrisome. During the last week, 80% of cases, as well as 84% of deaths, came from the states present in the meeting. Initially, experts believed that states, where the second wave originated, will see normalisation first. However, increasing numbers in Kerala and Maharashtra are the cause of grave worry,” Modi pointed out.

“…if the cases keep rising for a long time, chances of mutation of the Coronavirus will also increase and dangers of new variants will also rise. Therefore, we need to continue with the strategy of Test, Track, Treat and Teeka (vaccination) with special focus on micro-containment zones…,” the PM added.

Union home minister Amit Shah was also present during the review meeting. He mentioned that these six participating states account for more than 80% of the total cases during the month of July, while some of these states have high test positivity rates as well with as high as 10% or more test positivity rates in some of the districts.

Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan talked about the need to reinforce Covid appropriate behaviour and containment measures in the districts that are reporting high caseload. He also suggested that opening up of these districts should be done in a graded and calibrated manner.