New Delhi (NVI): Observing that coronavirus has attacked “our faith and belief”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the pandemic is “threatening our way of life” and appealed for a united front in the battle against it.
Against the backdrop of the controversial Tableegi congregation at Nizamuddin Dargah here, Modi said leaders should reach out to community leaders and social welfare organizations at state, district, town and block levels to build up a united front based on community-approach in the battle against the pandemic.
The Prime Minister was addressing Chief Ministers via a video conference in which he underlined the imperative to work on a war footing, identify hotspots of the virus, encircle them and ensure that the virus does not spread out.
He also said that it is pertinent to maintain peace and law and order across the country.
The Chief Ministers also mentioned their efforts of maintaining social distancing, tracking suspect cases, identifying and quarantining suspect cases arising from Nizamuddin Markaz, during their interaction with the PM.
They also apprised the Prime Minister about their efforts for containing community transmission, boosting up of medical infrastructure, strengthening medical workforce, provision of tele-medicine, provision of mental health counselling, distribution of food and other essentials to those in need and taking care of migrant workers.
Apart from that, the Prime Minister asked the States to brainstorm and send suggestions to the Centre so that a common exit strategy can be formulated to ensure staggered re-emergence of the population once lockdown ends.
This would mean a limited or controlled movement of a large population in the country after the lockdown gets over on April 14.
While reiterating the importance of social distancing in preventing the spread of COVID-19, the PM thanked the States for supporting the decision of lockdown due to which India has achieved some success in limiting the spread of the contagion. At the same time, he also forewarned that the global situation remains far from satisfactory and informed about the speculations of a possible second wave of the spread of the virus in some countries.
He asserted that the common goal for the country is to ensure minimum loss of life. “In the next few weeks, testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine should remain the areas of focus,” he said.
The PM also highlighted the necessity of maintaining the supply of essential medical products, availability of raw material for the manufacture of medicines and medical equipment.
He said it is necessary to ensure availability of separate, dedicated hospital facilities for COVID-19 patients.
To increase the availability of doctors, he asked the States to tap into the resource pool of AYUSH doctors, organize online training and utilize para-medical staff, NCC and NSS volunteers.
Calling for a coordinated action to address the present crisis, the Prime Minister stressed the need for setting up Crisis Management Groups at district level and appointment of District Surveillance Officers.
To ensure congruence in Covid-19 related data of district, state and Centre, the PM said that data must be taken from the accredited labs for testing.
Apart from that, the Prime Minister also said it is necessary to ensure staggered release of funds to the beneficiaries under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana to avoid crowding at banks.
Starting from China in December last year, the pandemic has wreaked havoc across several countries in the world with the death toll reaching 47,000 and total cases around 9 lakh.
In India, the death toll due to Covid-19 has reached 50 while the total number of cases have climbed to 1,965, according to Health Ministry data. The country entered a 21-day lockdown on March 24 midnight after PM made an announcement in this regard to combat the pandemic by remaining indoors and following the principle of social distancing.
