PM Modi’s message to states amid Covid surge : Five key points
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday interacted with chief ministers amid India’s worsening Covid situation, urging them to strengthen their efforts for the next 2-3 weeks to check the spread of the virus on a “war-footing”
Here are key things PM Modi told the chief ministers:
‘Test, track, treat’
PM Modi emphasised on ‘Test, Track, Treat’, Covid-appropriate behaviour and Covid management to contain the pandemic.
He said testing is the only way out of the Covid crisis and urged the states to increase it as much as they can without worrying about high positivity rate.
“I appeal to you all to stress on Covid testing. Our target is to do 70% RT-PCR tests. Let the number of positive cases come high, but do maximum testing, he said.
Besides testing, he said states should have a target of tracing 30 contacts of a Covid positive person within 72 hours.
‘Tika Utsav’
The Prime Minister also called for a “Tika Utsav” (Vaccination festival) from April 14-11 to inoculate as many eligible beneficiaries as possible.
“April 11 is the birth anniversary of Jyotiba Phule and 14th is the birth anniversary of Baba Saheb Ambedkar. Can we do a mass vaccination programme from April 11-14 for the eligible people with zero wastage and use our resources optimally,” he said.
‘Check laxity’
The Prime Minister said that it has been observed that people as well as governments have become more casual during the second wave of the pandemic.
“There is a need to improve the governance system. I understand that because of the one-year battle, the system can experience tiredness and there can be laxity, but we must tighten it for 2-3 weeks and strengthen the governance,” he said.
He told the states there is a need to work on a war-footing to again fight against Covid-19.
“Despite all the challenges, we have a better experience, resources and a vaccine,” he said.
‘Popularise Covid curfews’
The Prime Minister said that night curfews help create awareness about the Covid situation.
“There is an intellectual debate on whether corona
comes in the night? The truth is that the world has accepted this experiment of night curfew. It is so because the curfew time reminds everyone that they are living in the times of coronavirus,” he said.
He said that it will be better to start the curfew timing from 9pm or 10pm till 5am or 6am and also urged CMs to popularise it as “corona curfew” to raise awareness.
‘Bring down positivity rate’
The Prime Minister asked the CMs to take measures to bring down positivity rate to 5%.
India’s average positivity rate was 8.4% in the first week of April.
“We have to bring the positivity rate below 5 per cent and lower the mortality rate. The data on deaths should be analysed in detail and made available on every portal,” he said.
