New Delhi: Former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Monday tested positive for Covid-19 and has been admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Trauma Centre in Delhi for treatment.


This comes a day after Dr Singh wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the steps that the government should take to tackle Covid-19 while stating the nation is “facing an unprecedented emergency”.


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Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to wish Dr Manmohan Singh a speedy recovery. "Dear Dr. Manmohan Singh Ji, Wishing you a speedy recovery. India needs your guidance and advice in this difficult time," he wrote.



Dr Singh in his letter on Sunday suggested five ways the government can defeat the pandemic and said the very first step before implementing them is to accept the country is facing an economic crisis.


The Congress veteran in his letter written amid the surge in coronavirus cases emphasized that the expansion of Covid vaccination programme is a big part of pandemic management, adding there is a need to resist the temptation to look at absolute numbers vaccinated and instead focus on percentage of population vaccinated.


Dr Singh said, “the government should publicise what are the firm orders for doses placed on different vaccine producers and accepted for delivery over the next six months”.


“If we want to vaccinate a target number in this period, we should place enough orders in advance so that producers can adhere to an agreed schedule of supply,” he added.


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Dr Singh further wrote, “the states should be given some flexibility to define categories of frontline workers who can be vaccinated even if they are below 45 years of age”.


Pointing out that India has over the past few decades emerged as the largest vaccine producer in the world thanks to policies adopted by the government and robust intellectual property protection, Dr Singh added: “The capacity is largely in the private sector. At this moment of a public health emergency, the government must proactively support vaccine producers to expand their manufacturing facilities quickly by providing funds and other concessions”.


Meanwhile, updates regarding the former Prime Minister's heath are awaited.