Localised containment strategies need of the hour: PM at Covid review meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that localised containment strategies are the need of the hour specially for states where the Covid test positivity rate (TPR) in districts is high. 

At a high-level review meeting to discuss the coronavirus situation in the country, the Prime Minister on Saturday instructed that testing needs to be scaled up further, with use of both RT-PCR and Rapid tests, especially in areas with high test positivity rates.

"PM was briefed that testing has gone up rapidly in the country, from around 50 lakh tests per week in early March to around 1.3 crore tests per week now. They also informed the PM about the gradually decreasing test positivity rate and increasing recovery rate. It was discussed that cases which had gone over 4 lakh cases per day are now coming down as a result of the efforts by healthcare workers, state governments and central government," said PMO.

India witnessed a slight dip in the number of fresh infections with 326,098 infections in the last 24 hours. Deaths from the virus surged by 3,890 to hit 266,207 in total.

Modi said states should be encouraged to report their numbers transparently without any pressure of high numbers showing adversely on their efforts. 

He asked for augmentation of healthcare resources in rural areas to focus on door to door testing and surveillance. 

"The Prime Minister took serious note of some reports about ventilators lying unutilised in storage in some states and directed that an immediate audit of installation and operation of ventilators provided by the Central Government should be carried out," said the Prime Minister's Office in an official statement.

The Prime Minister added that refresher training for properly operating ventilators should be provided to healthcare workers if necessary. 

The Prime Minister directed that a distribution plan for ensuring oxygen supply in rural areas should be worked out, including through provision of Oxygen Concentrators. The Prime Minister added that necessary training should be provided to health workers in the operation of such equipment, and power supply should be ensured for smooth operation of such medical devices, said PMO. 

PM said that India’s fight against Covid has been guided throughout by scientists and subject experts and will continue being guided by them.

Officials briefed PM about the vaccination process and the state-wise coverage of population aged above 45. The roadmap for future vaccine availability was also discussed. He directed officials to work closely with states to ramp up the speed of vaccination.