Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held a high-level meeting to review the situation regarding the outbreak of COVID-19 and influenza in the country. He also discussed the various steps that the government is taking to improve the health infrastructure and prevent the spread of the disease.
The meeting was held to review the country’s preparedness for the outbreak of the disease and the various steps being taken to prevent its spread. According to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s office, Modi discussed the details of the vaccination campaign, emergence of new COVID-19 variants and influenza types and their public health implications for the country and the logistics of the health infrastructure.
The meeting was held amid a spike in the number of influenza cases and the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the country.
According to the Prime Minister’s office, the number of new cases in the country has increased. However, the weekly positivity rate reported by the government is 0.98 percent. Global statistics show that over a million cases were reported during the week ended March 22.
The Prime Minister was informed about the availability of various COVID-19 drugs and the prices of these. He was also briefed about the monitoring of other drugs.
The Prime Minister also ordered officials to carry out genome sequencing of all positive samples to help identify new variants and improve the response time to the disease. This will allow the government to monitor the disease’s progress and provide timely assistance.
In response to the concerns about the spread of COVID-19, the Prime Minister emphasized the importance of wearing masks when visiting a healthcare facility. He also noted that people with certain comorbidities should avoid going to crowded areas.
The active coronavirus cases have gone up to 7,026, the official data says. In terms of daily Covid fatalities, five people lost their lives in the last 24 hours, the health ministry data says. While Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi recorded one death each, Kerala added one more fatality after reconciling the old data.
Meanwhile, the Kerala government has issued an alert across the state in wake of the fresh increase in the coronavirus cases. In a statement, Health Minister Veena George said there has been a little increase in the number of Covid-19 cases with the state reporting 172 cases on Tuesday. According to George, Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram have witnessed more infections in comparison with other districts in Kerala.
“There are a total of 1,026 active cases of COVID-19 and 111 people are under treatment in hospitals. All districts have been alerted,” the minister said. The state government has asked all districts to increase the surveillance.
(With agency inputs)