PM Modi
Focus on testing, tracing, treatment: PM Modi urges CMs of seven states
New Delhi/IBNS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday interacted with Chief Ministers of seven states via video conferencing where he emphasized the need to increase focus on "effective testing, tracing, treatment and surveillance" to bring the coronavirus outbreak in the country under control.
The states that attended the meeting include Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Punjab, which are reportedly contributing maximum cases of the contagion daily.
Addressing the Chief Ministers of these states, PM Modi said: "I urge the honourable Chief Ministers to conduct a programme to interact with the people at tehsil-level or block-level to create awareness on safety protocols related to coronavirus. This can be done continuously for 7 days. Am sure this will help our messages reach the bottom-most tier of the population."
Discussion with CMs on the COVID-19 situation. https://t.co/pKY8n2MeYN
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 23, 2020
"Effective messaging is also necessary because most COVID-19 infections are without symptoms," Modi said.
"In such a situation, rumours may rise. It might raise doubts in the minds of the people that testing is bad. Some people also make mistake of underestimating the severity of infection," he added.
The PM said that his administration has discussed ways to upgrade the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
"It has been decided that the use of the fund will be increased from 35 pct to 50 pct to help the states to combat the coronavirus," said Modi.
The Prime Minister also mentioned that the initial lockdown for months had been useful but now the concentration should be scaled down to micro-containment zones.
"The 1-2 days lockdowns planned in your states at local levels have to be analysed properly whether they are actually capable of combatting coronavirus. It should not pause the pace of economic development," he advised.
"Alongside the pandemic, we have to focus our efforts on the economic aspects of the country as well," the PM added.
Urging the CMs to make people realise the need to use masks or face covers, Modi said: "Try to make people use masks as a part of their daily lives."
India registered 83,347 new cases earlier this morning as the COVID-19 tally in the country touched 5,646,011.
The highly infectious disease left 1,085 people dead in the last 24 hours.
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