Coronavirus in India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a video conference meeting with 49 top sportspersons of India, which included cricketers Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virender Sehwag, boxer Mary Kom, chess legend Vishwanathan Anand, badminton player PV Sindhu and sprinter Hima Das, over the topic of COVID-19 situation in the country.

Catch live updates on coronavirus here

The other prominent names in the meeting included athlete PT Usha, badminton coach Pullela Gopichand, and wrestler Bajrang Punia.

PM Modi during his interaction with the sportspersons shared his five-point mantra of ‘Sankalp (pledge), Sanyam (control), Sakaratmakta (positivity), Samman (respect) and Sahyog (co-operation)’ to tackle COVID-19. PM Modi also said that the sportspersons have brought glory to the nation and now they have an important role to play in boosting the morale of the nation and in spreading positivity, ANI quoted PMO as saying.

The sportspersons on the other side thanked the Prime Minister for ensuring that frontline healthcare workers and the police personnel involved in the battle against coronavirus get the respect they deserve for their selfless service to the nation. They also talked about the importance of discipline, mental strength, following fitness regimen and steps to boost immunity, reported ANI.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared the details of this meeting in a tweet.

Team India captain Virat Kohli along with his wife, Anushka Sharma, has pledged to support the PM-CARES fund and the Maharashtra chief minister’s relief fund. Virat has also posted several messages asking people to take the coronavirus pandemic seriously and support the nation in its fight against the outbreak.

 

Earlier last week, batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar had donated Rs 50 lakh to fight the coronavirus pandemic in the country. Reports stated that Tendulkar donated Rs 25 lakh each to Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. In a tweet, he also issued an appeal to people to practice social distancing but to not isolate or ostracize coronavirus patients.

Indian opener Rohit Sharma did his bit by contributing Rs 80 lakh in total to PM-CARES, Maharshtra CM’s relief fund, and the NGOs – Feeding India and Welfare of Stray Dogs. In a tweet, Rohit said that the efforts were to help the country back on its feet from this pandemic.

In a tweet last week, Asian Games gold-medal-winning sprinter Hima Das informed that she has donated a month’s salary to the Assam Government’s fund to battle COVID-19 outbreak in the state. She is posted as an HR officer with Indian Oil at Guwahati.

To assist the nation in its fight against coronavirus, ace shuttler PV Sindhu has donated an amount of Rs 5 lakh each to the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Chief Minister’s relief funds and appealed to citizens to stay home during the coronavirus lockdown in several of her tweets.

As per the latest figures shared by the Union Health Ministry, the number of COVID-19 cases in India has climbed up to 2,301, while the death toll has risen to 56, The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s website states that the number of active coronavirus cases in India stands at 2,088. So far, 156 people have either been cured or discharged, and one COVID-19 patient has migrated to another country, the ministry data stated. The number of cases includes 55 foreign nationals, it says.