Covid-19 Surge: PM Modi To Interact With CMs On Thursday; Vardhan To Take Stock Of Situation In 11 States

 To tackle the massive covid-19 surge in India, the Centre has decided to intensify its fight against the virus. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will conduct a meeting with chief ministers on Thursday to discuss the pandemic situation and the vaccination drive.

Meanwhile, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan will hold a meeting on Tuesday with health ministers of 11 states and Union Territories, which have been witnessing a surge in coronavirus cases, to review the situation there.

These developments come after the country reported its highest daily spike on Sunday. India logged 1,03,558 new infections on Sunday, pushing the nationwide case tally to 1.25 crore.

Modi’s last interaction with chief ministers was on March 17 during which he had expressed concern over the rise in Covid-19 cases in parts of the country and called for "quick and decisive" steps to check the "emerging second peak".

At a high-level meeting with senior officials, Prime Minister Modi had on Sunday reviewed the Covid-19 situation and vaccination exercise in the country amid the "alarming rate of growth" in infections and deaths.

Modi had said the five-fold strategy of testing, tracing, treatment, COVID-appropriate behaviour and vaccination, if implemented with utmost seriousness and commitment, would be effective in curbing the spread of the pandemic, according to an official statement that was released after the meeting.

The reasons for the sharp rise in cases could be mainly attributed to the severe decline in compliance of COVID-appropriate behaviour, especially in the use of masks and social distancing, pandemic fatigue and lack of effective implementation of containment measures at the field level, according to the statement.

A special campaign for COVID-appropriate behaviour with emphasis on 100 percent mask usage, personal hygiene and sanitation at public places, workplaces and health facilities will be organised between April 6-14, the statement had said.

In the meeting, the prime minister had highlighted the need to enforce the COVID-appropriate behaviour in the coming days and ensure the availability of beds, testing facilities and timely hospitalisation.

The principal secretary to the prime minister, cabinet secretary, home secretary, chairperson (Empowered group on Vaccine Administration) and health secretary besides other senior officials attended the meeting on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Vardhan will hold a meeting with health ministers of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan on Tuesday.

According to the health ministry, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab have shown a steep rise in daily COVID cases, accounting for 81.90 per cent of the over 1 lakh infections reported in a day.

Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 57,074 which is 55.11 per cent of the new cases reported nationwide. It is followed by Chhattisgarh with 5,250 cases and Karnataka reported 4,553 fresh infections.

India's total active caseload has reached 7,41,830 and comprises 5.89 per cent of the country's total infections. A net increase of 50,233 active cases have been recorded in a day, the data presented by the health ministry showed.

Five states -- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Punjab -- cumulatively account for 75.88 per cent of the total active cases in the country. Maharashtra alone accounts for nearly 58.23 per cent of the total active caseload, the ministry said.

India's cumulative recoveries stand at 1,16,82,136 with 52,847 recoveries being registered in a span of 24 hours.

Besides, 478 deaths were reported in a day. Eight states account for 84.52 per cent of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw a maximum of 222 casualties, followed by 51 in Punjab.

(With PTI inputs)