Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed that intensive containment and active surveillance should continue in clusters reporting a high number of cases.
Modi last evening chaired a high-level meeting to assess the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the country, ongoing preparedness of health infrastructure and logistics, status of the vaccination campaign in the country and the emergence of new Covid-19 variant Omicron and its public health implications for the country.
He highlighted the need to ensure effective usage of masks and physical distancing measures. Modi also said soon a meeting with Chief Ministers be convened to discuss state-specific scenarios and best practices. He also called for adequate health infrastructure in districts, and for boosting the adolescent vaccination drive.
PM further exhorted the need for effective implementation of Home Isolation for mild/asymptomatic cases and to disseminate the factual information to the community at large.
He highlighted the need to ensure continuity of non-Covid health services while managing Covid cases presently. He also spoke about the need to leverage telemedicine to ensure availability of health related guidance to people in remote and rural areas.
While conveying his gratitude for the relentless services provided by healthcare workers in managing Covid-19 so far, he suggested that the vaccination coverage through precaution dose for healthcare workers should also be taken up in mission mode.
PM spoke about the importance for continuous scientific research in testing , vaccines and pharmacological interventions including genome sequencing given that the virus is evolving continuously.
A presentation was made in the meet to highlight India’s consistent efforts towards the vaccination campaign, with 31 per cent adolescents aged 15-18 years having been administered with the first dose so far within seven days of the start of the drive.
The meeting was attended by Amit Shah, Union Home Minister, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Smt. Bharati Pravin Pawar, Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, Dr. V K Paul, Member (Health) NITI Aayog, Rajiv Gauba, Cabinet Secretary, A.K. Bhalla, Home Secretary, Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary (MoHFW), Secretary (Pharmaceuticals); Dr. Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary (Biotechnology)and Dr. Balram Bhargava, DG ICMR.
