Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday interacted with Chief Ministers of states via video-conferencing to discuss measures to combat Covid-19 and asked them to prepare a common exit strategy for staggered re-appearance of population after the lockdown ends.
Thanking the states for supporting the decision of lockdown due to which India has achieved some success in limiting the spread of COVID-19, he praised how all the states had worked together as a team to check the spread of the virus, an official release said.
He, however, forewarned that the global situation remained far from satisfactory and informed about speculation of a possible second wave of spread of the virus in some countries.
The Prime Minister outlined that the common goal for the country is to ensure minimum loss of life. In the next few weeks, testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine should remain the areas of focus.
Highlighting the necessity of maintaining supply of essential medical products, availability of raw material for manufacture of medicines and medical equipment, he said it is necessary to ensure availability of separate, dedicated hospital facilities for COVID-19 patients.
To increase the availability of doctors, he asked the states to tap into the resource pool of AYUSH doctors, organise online training and utilise para-medical staff, NCC and NSS volunteers.
Underscoring the importance of coordinated action and the need to avoid overlaps in efforts of stakeholders, the Prime Minister talked about the need of setting up Crisis Management Groups at district level and appointment of District Surveillance Officers.
The PM said data must be taken from the accredited labs for testing – this will ensure congruence in data of district, state and centre. He said it is necessary to ensure staggered release of funds to the beneficiaries under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana to avoid crowding at banks.
The Prime Minister said considering that this is the time to harvest crops, the government has given some relaxation from lockdown but it is necessary to continuously monitor and maintain social distancing as much as possible.
