PM Modi holds review meeting on Covid-19 situation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a review meeting with top officials over the Covid-19 situation and the ongoing vaccination exercise in the country, government sources said on Saturday.
The meeting comes amid a huge surge in Covid-19 cases across the country with reports pouring in from many states about the shortage of hospital facilities and essentials like oxygen supply.

The Prime Minister has been holding meetings with chief ministers and officials on a regular basis to discuss the situation and take measures to curb the pandemic.

A record single-day rise of 2,34,692 cases and 1,341 fatalities have pushed India’s Covid-19 tally to 1,45,26,609 and the death toll due to the viral disease to 1,75,649, the health ministry said earlier on Saturday.

The Prime Minister “has directed that the installation of approved medical oxygen plants should be accelerated,” said the release, adding that 162 PSA Oxygen plants are being installed in 32 States/UTs from PM CARES and one lakh cylinders are being procured and will be supplied to States soon. Mr Modi asked all officials to make efforts to utilize the entire national capacity, in public as well as private sector, to ramp up vaccine production.

Earlier in the day Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said India is currently reporting the sharpest growth rate of 7.6% in new COVID cases, which is 1.3 times higher than case growth rate of 5.5% reported in June 2020. The Minister added that this is leading to an alarming rise in active cases and also a sharp growth of 10.2% in the number of COVID deaths.

Dr. Vardhan, chaired a high-level review meeting with Health Ministers of 11 States/UTs — Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh — that are reporting an unprecedented surge in new COVID cases.