E-Paper
PM to review Covid-19 situation in northeastern states today
PM Modi’s proposed meeting follows Union cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba’s interaction with the officials of the northeastern states’ home department last Wednesday amid concerns over rising cases in the region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to review the situation pertaining to Covid-19 with the chief ministers of the northeastern states at 11am on Tuesday, people familiar with the development said on Monday.
PM Modi’s proposed meeting follows Union cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba’s interaction with the officials of the northeastern states’ home department last Wednesday amid concerns over rising cases in the region.
Earlier this month, the Centre deployed multi-disciplinary expert teams to six states, including Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, after they showed a spurt in Covid-19 cases.
During the review meeting last week, it was found that of the 73 districts in the country with case positivity rates above 10%, as many as 46 belonged to the northeastern states, prompting the Centre to put its focus on the region.
A recent letter circulated by Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan pointed out that Arunachal Pradesh is an area of concern since the state has a weekly positivity rate of 16.2% (between June 28 and July 4) and the trend saw an upward rise.
Other northeastern states, such as Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland, too, have been reporting high positivity rate.
