New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday interacted virtually with the Chief Ministers of six States having the lion's share in the total number of active cases of COVID-19 and asked them to take proactive steps to check the spread and any further mutation of the virus.
Six States--Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Maharashtra and Kerala--account for nearly 80 per cent of the total active cases and also have a high positivity rate, according to Union Health Ministry data.
"During the last week, 80 per cent of cases, as well as 84 per cent unfortunate deaths, came from the States present in the meeting. It is a cause of grave worry," said the Prime Minister.
Mr Modi reminded the Chief Ministers of similar trends seen in January-February this year before the beginning of the second wave. "We have to take proactive measures to prevent the possibility of the third wave," he said.
The Prime Minister underlined the expert's view that if the cases keep on rising for a long time, chances of mutation increase. "Therefore, we need to continue with the strategy of test, track, treat and vaccinate while putting special focus on micro-containment zones," Mr Modi said.
He exhorted the Chief Ministers to fill the infrastructural gaps, especially in the rural areas and also asked them to strengthen the IT systems, control rooms and call centres.
The Prime Minister said surge in fresh cases has been witnessed in Europe, the US, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand and some other parts of the world, and warned of a similar situation in India if Covid-19 guidelines are not followed strictly.
The Chief Ministers talked about the steps taken to boost medical infrastructure and discussed post-Covid issues being faced by patients and steps being taken to provide assistance in such cases.
Earlier this week, Mr Modi held an interaction with Chief Ministers of North-Eastern States as many districts in these States were recording a high positivity rate.
India recorded 38,949 COVID-19 cases and 542 fatalities during the past 24 hours. The active cases in the country stand at 4,30,422.(UNI)