Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with chief ministers on Thursday to discuss the Covid-19 situation in the country and the ongoing vaccination drive. He held a high-level meeting with senior officials on Sunday to review the existing situation where he ordered deployment of teams to worst-affected states and launch of an awareness campaign.
A day after that meeting, India recorded over one lakh new cases of the infection. The record was broken on Wednesday when the daily caseload reached 1.15 lakh.
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The Prime Minister's last interaction with chief ministers was on March 17 when he 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".
Thursday's virtual meeting comes after Union health minister Harsh Vardhan took stock of the Covid-19 situation via video conferencing with health ministers of 11 states where the situation is particularly bad. The 11 states are Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan.
The daily rise in Covid-19 cases in India crossed the grim milestone of one lakh from 20,000 infections in just 25 days, unlike last year when it took 76 days for daily cases to reach the then peak of 97,894 on September 17, reflecting the speed at which the virus is spreading and concerning the government.
{{/usCountry}}The daily rise in Covid-19 cases in India crossed the grim milestone of one lakh from 20,000 infections in just 25 days, unlike last year when it took 76 days for daily cases to reach the then peak of 97,894 on September 17, reflecting the speed at which the virus is spreading and concerning the government.
{{/usCountry}}Top central government officials have said that next four weeks are "very critical in the country’s fight against the pandemic.
India is currently the third worst-hit country, just behind the United States of America and Brazil.
On the occasion of the World Health Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged people to focus on fighting Covid-19 by taking all precautions, including wearing a mask, regularly washing hands and following other protocols.
"#WorldHealthDay is a day to reaffirm our gratitude and appreciation to all those who work day and night to keep our planet healthy," the PM Modi tweeted.
India is also conducting the world's largest vaccination drive to strengthen the fight against Covid-19, he asserted.