Covid-19: PM Modi stresses on genome sequence in high level meeting

The topics that were discussed include preparedness of the health systems to respond, availability of medical oxygen, matters relating to production, supply and distribution of vaccines apart from the prevailing Covid-19 scenario, a government press release said.

The Prime Minister was apprised of the augmentation of the healthcare infrastructure across the country.

He also reviewed the production, supply and the pipeline of vaccine manufacturing in the course of the coming months.

"The Prime Minister said entire ecosystem needs to be rapidly augmented to ensure increased oxygen availability, including concentrators, cylinders and PSA plants," a source told NDTV.

The states have been given as many as one lakh oxygen concentrators and three lakh oxygen cylinders, he said.

"During the meeting the Prime Minister spoke about the need for constant genome sequencing to monitor emergence of mutants," NDTV reported quoting sources.

After the second wave of Covid-19 that ravaged India, the government has taken steps to prepare for a possible third wave which is likely to hit the country in September or October.

Reuters reported that India has added many more hospital beds and imported over 100 oxygen carriers to raise the total to about 1,250.

Building of nearly 1,600 oxygen generation plants at hospitals has been approved by the government. Though less than 300 had been set up as of early last month as imports are time consuming.

The government is also making efforts to set up 961 liquid medical oxygen storage tanks and 1,450 medical gas pipeline systems to support at least one such unit per district, the government said.

Further all states are preparing and upgrading paediatric wards as experts have warned that  unvaccinated children could be vulnerable to new virus mutations, the statement added.

"On vaccines, the Prime Minister was apprised that around 58 per cent of India's adult population has received the first dose and around 18 per cent of India's adult population has received the second dose. He was updated about the vaccine pipeline and increased supply of vaccines," the release said.

In the meeting, it was discussed that in many countries the coronavirus cases continue to remain high. And, in India, too, states like Kerala and Maharashtra have continued to report a high number of infections. This indicates that there is no room for complacency.

India has maintained a positive rate of less than 3% for the 10th consecutive week.

"The Prime Minister spoke about the need to ensure adequate testing across the country. Officers informed him about the support being given to 433 districts to establish RT-PCR lab facility in public health facilities," the release said.