NEW DELHI, Apr 24 (NNN-PTI) – Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, yesterday chaired a high-level meeting on COVID-19 situation, with chief ministers of 10 states that have reported maximum numbers of cases.
Modi assured the government’s full support to all the states in the fight against COVID-19.
Chief ministers of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Gujarat, Delhi, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu attended the virtual meet. These states account for nearly 75 percent of the total new cases reported daily.
“Noting that the virus is affecting several states, as well as, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities at once, PM Modi called for working together to fight the pandemic with collective power,” a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
On the shortage of oxygen, Modi said, there was a continuous effort to increase the supply in the states.
Officials yesterday said, at least 25 critical patients, admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi had died, in the last 24 hours, where authorities flagged the shortage of oxygen and said, the patients were reportedly on high-flow oxygen.
“PM Modi urged all states to work together and coordinate with one another to fulfil requirements relating to medicines and oxygen. He urged the states to check hoarding and black marketing of oxygen and medicines,” the statement said.
“The PM said that every state should ensure that no oxygen tanker, whether it is meant for any state, is stopped or gets stranded.”
Modi said, the government was 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,” the PMO said.
Modi noted that the ongoing vaccination programme should not slow down in this situation.
During the meeting, he reiterated the need to scale up testing and creation of micro-containment zones, for better management of the pandemic.
Home minister, Amit Shah, health minister, Harsh Vardhan, commerce and industry minister, Piyush Goyal were also present at the meeting.
India is presently witnessing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. It yesterday reported the world’s biggest-ever daily surge with 332,730 new cases and 2,263 deaths in the past 24 hours.– NNN-PTI
