PM Modi Chairs High-Level Meeting On COVID Situation, Stresses Need To Ensure Adequate Health Infrastructure

This meeting comes as India reported more than 1.5 lakh new COVID-19 cases on Sunday and the case tally of the Omicron variant of the virus reached 3,623 in the country.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday a high-level meeting to assess the Coronavirus pandemic situation as cases surge across the country. 

The meeting was attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar, Member (Health) NITI Aayog Dr. VK Paul, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, and several other senior officials.

A statement released by Prime Minister's Office (PMO) informed that in the high-level meeting, ongoing preparedness of health infrastructure and logistics, the status of the vaccination campaign in the country, and the emergence of new COVID-19 variant Omicron and its public health implications for the country were assessed.

"A detailed presentation highlighting the surge in cases currently being reported globally was given by Secretary Health. This was followed by the status of COVID-19 in India highlighting various States and Districts of concern, based on the surge in cases and high positivity being reported," the statement read.

"Further, various efforts taken by the Central Government so far in terms of supporting States to manage the upcoming challenge were highlighted. Various predictive scenarios of peak cases were also presented. The support to the States to upgrade health infrastructure, testing capacity, availability of oxygen & ICU beds, and buffer stock of COVID essential drugs under Emergency COVID Response Package (ECRP-II) was presented," it added.

PM Modi stressed the need to ensure adequate health infrastructure at the district level. He asked officials to maintain coordination regarding this with the states.

The presentation brought attention to India’s consistent efforts towards the vaccination campaign, with 31% adolescents aged 15-18 years having been administered with the 1st dose so far within 7 days, PMO stated, adding that PM Modi noted this achievement and urged to further accelerate the vaccine drive for adolescents in mission mode.

After a detailed discussion, PM Narendra Modi directed that intensive containment and active surveillance continue in clusters reporting higher cases and required technical support be provided to states which are reporting higher cases presently.

He highlighted the need to ensure effective usage of masks and physical distancing measures as a new normal to control the spread. He further exhorted the need for effective implementation of Home Isolation for mild/asymptomatic cases and to disseminate the factual information to the community at large.

Meeting With Chief Ministers To Be Convened

The Prime Minister has said that a meeting with CMs be convened to discuss state-specific scenarios, best practices, and the public health response. He also highlighted the need to ensure continuity of non-COVID health services while managing COVID cases presently.

He also spoke about the need to leverage telemedicine to ensure the availability of health-related guidance to people in remote and rural areas, the PMO stated.

PM Modi conveyed his gratitude for the relentless services provided by healthcare workers in managing COVID-19 so far while stressing that vaccination coverage through precaution dose for healthcare workers, front line workers be taken up in mission mode.

He emphasised the importance of continuous scientific research in testing, vaccines, and pharmacological interventions including genome sequencing given that the virus is evolving continuously.

Other senior officials who attended the meeting include Home Secretary AK Bhalla, Secretary (MoHFW) Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary (Biotechnology) Dr. Rajesh Gokhale, ICMR DG Dr. Balram Bhargava, NHA CEO RS Sharma, the PMO statement informed.

Coronavirus Situation In India

This meeting comes as India reported more than 1.5 lakh new COVID-19 cases on Sunday and the case tally of the Omicron variant reached 3,623 in the country.

India reported 1,59,632 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, taking the daily positivity rate in the country to 10.21 per cent, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed.

Of 3,623 Omicron cases, Maharashtra reported the highest infections with 1,009 cases, followed by Delhi (513) and Karnataka (441).