New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday assured the Centre’s full support to all the states in the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic and said if we work as one nation then there will not be any scarcity of resources.


Prime Minister Modi, who chaired a high-level meeting on the Covid-19 situation with the Chief Ministers of 11 states and Union Territories which have reported maximum number of cases recently, noted the virus is affecting several states as well as tier 2 and tier 3 cities at once.


Prime Minister Modi called for working together to fight the pandemic with collective power.


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Asserting the biggest basis of India’s success during the first wave of the pandemic was our united efforts and united strategy, he reiterated there is a need to address this challenge in the same way.


Prime Minister Modi further said the Union Health Ministry is also in touch with the states and monitoring the situation closely and issuing necessary advices to the states from time to time.


He also took note took note of the points raised by the states on oxygen supply and said there is a continuous effort to increase oxygen supply.


“All the concerned departments and ministries of the government are also working together. Industrial oxygen has also been diverted to meet immediate requirements,” he added.


Prime Minister Modi urged all states to work together and coordinate with one-another to fulfil the requirements relating to medicines and oxygen.


Urging the states to check hoarding and black marketing of oxygen and medicines, he said that every state should ensure that no oxygen tanker, whether it is meant for any state, is stopped or gets stranded.


Prime Minister Modi urged the states to set up a high-level co-ordination committee to carry oxygen to different hospitals of the state.


“This Coordination Committee should ensure that as soon as there is allotment of oxygen from the centre, it can deliver oxygen as per requirement in different hospitals of the state immediately,” he said.


The Prime Minister informed the Chief Ministers that he chaired a meeting on oxygen supply earlier on Thursday and will be attending one today to discuss all the options for increasing the oxygen supply.


He stated the Centre is working on all possible options to reduce the travel time and turnaround time of oxygen tankers.


“For this, Railways has started Oxygen Express. Empty Oxygen tankers are also being transported by the Air-Force to reduce one way travel time,” he added.


Stating there is a need to focus on testing along with upgrading of resources, Prime Minister Modi emphasized that widespread testing should be conducted so that people get the facility easily.


Mentioning that India is running the world’s largest vaccination programme and over 13 crore vaccine doses have so far been provided free of cost to the states by the Government of India, he said that “our vaccination programme should not slowdown in this situation”.


“The campaign launched by the Central Government to provide free vaccine to all citizens above 45 years as well has Health-Care workers and Front-Line workers will also continue in the same manner. From May 1, the vaccine is going to be available to all citizens above 18 years of age. We will also need to work in mission mode to get more and more people vaccinated,” he added.


Prime Minister Modi further said hospital safety is also very important along with all measures for treatment of the patients.


Expressing grief on the recent incidents of oxygen leakage and fire at hospitals, he said the administrative staff of the hospital needs to be made more aware about the safety protocols.


Prime Minister Modi also urged the administration to continuously make the people aware so that they do not indulge in panic buying.


“With united efforts, we will be able to stop this second wave of the pandemic across the country,” he said.


Earlier, a presentation was given by Niti Aayog member Dr VK Paul highlighting the preparations being done to counter the new surge of infections.


Dr Paul also presented the roadmap for increasing the medical facilities and targeted treatment of patients. He briefed everyone about boosting of medical infrastructure, teams and supplies, clinical management, containment, vaccination and community engagement.


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During the interaction, the Chief Ministers briefed Prime Minister Modi about the steps being taken by the respective state governments in the current wave.


They also noted that the directions given by the Prime Minister and the road map presented by the Niti Aayog would help them plan their responses in a better way.


Prime Minister Modi’s interaction with the Chief Ministers came as India recorded over three lakh cases for the second straight day on Friday.


India’s total active caseload has reached 24,28,616, which comprises 14.93 percent of the country’s total positive cases.


The five states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala cumulatively account for 59.12 percent of India’s total active cases.