Modi undertakes ‘comprehensive’ review of Covid-19 situation
Modi also reviewed the availability of medicines and was briefed about the rapid augmenting of the production of medicines, including Remdesivir
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertook a "comprehensive" review meeting on Thursday over the ongoing Covid-19 crisis in the country, and was briefed about districts with high burden of cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a press release.
The Indian PMO noted that Modi was informed about the 12 states whose active caseload is more than one lakh. Some of these states, the Union ministry of health and family welfare said in a briefing on Wednesday, are Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, all of which have an active caseload of more than 1.5 lakh.
The release further said the Indian Prime Minister was also briefed about the ramping up of health infrastructure by states, adding that the need to ensure quick and holistic containment measures was discussed as well.
Modi also reviewed the availability of medicines and was briefed about the rapid augmenting of the production of medicines, including Remdesivir, it said.
"PM reviewed the progress on vaccination and the roadmap for scaling up the production of vaccines in the next few months. He was informed that around 17.7 crore vaccines have been supplied to states and that around 31% of eligible population over the age of 45 has been given at least one dose," the release said. It noted that the meeting was also attended by central ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, Mansukh Mandaviya and other top officials.
"Reviewed various aspects of Covid-19 response in the states and districts, including the ongoing vaccination drive and augmenting health capacities," Modi tweeted on the meeting.
According to the health ministry's website on Thursday morning, India saw a record 412,262 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, along with 3,980 related deaths – highest in a single day. The country's cumulative infection tally stands at 21,077,410, including 17,280,844 recoveries, 3,566,398 active cases and 230,168 deaths.