'Do Gaj Doori Mask Hai Zaroori': PM Modi Asks Officials In Varanasi Review Meeting To Ensure Covid Protocol

According to a statement issued by the PMO, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received details about the Covid testing, the availability of beds, medicines, vaccine, and manpower, etc. 

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Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reviewed the Covid-19 situation in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi district through a video conferencing session.

PM Modi's meeting came after his Lok Sabha constituency recorded 1,664 Covid-19 cases and 8 deaths on Saturday. 

According to a statement issued by the PMO, the Prime Minister received details about the Covid testing, the availability of beds, medicines, vaccine, and manpower, etc. He asked the officers to provide all possible assistance to the public at the earliest.

During the discussion, the Prime Minister laid special emphasis on maintaining "Do Gaj Doori Mask Hai Zaroori", an appeal he has been reiterating since Covid outbreak in the country.

He also stressed upon the importance of vaccination drive, asking the administration to make all people above 45 years of age aware of the same.

The Prime Minister then expressed his gratitude to the medical community including doctors and staff, stating that they are following their duty faithfully in this time of crisis.

Learning from the experiences of the last year, we have to be cautious, he advised.

PM Modi assured that as a Lok Sabha representative of Varanasi, he is constantly taking feedback from the general public. 

'Test, Track and Treat', the Prime Minister said that the same strategy needs to be adopted to win over the virus like last year.

He laid special emphasis on efficient contact tracing and providing test reports of infected persons available as soon as possible.

The Prime Minister also lauded the NGOs in Varanasi for the way they have worked with the government, which he said should be encouraged. 

In the virtual meeting, public representatives and officials of Varanasi apprised the Prime Minister about the preparations made for protection against Covid-19 and treatment.

The members of this meeting included MLC and Varanasi Covid in-charge AK Sharma, Divisional Commissioner Deepak Agarwal, Commissioner of Police A. Satish Ganesh, District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma, Municipal Commissioner Gaurang Rathi, Chief Medical Officer N. P. Singh, Director I. S. S. B. H. U. BR Mittal, Ministers of State Neelkanth Tiwari and Ravindra Jaiswal, Rohaniyan MLA Surendra Narayan Singh and MLCs Ashok Dhawan and Laxman Acharya.

PMO's statement revealed that the Prime Minister was informed about the control room set up for contact tracing, command and control centre for home isolation, dedicated phone line ambulance, telemedicine arrangement from the control room, deployment of the additional rapid response team in urban areas, etc.

It adds that 1,98,383 persons have been given the first dose and 35,014 persons have been given both doses of vaccination for protection from Covid.