PM Modi discusses Covid-19 situation, says 10 states account for 80% cases

Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted on Tuesday that 10 states account for over 80 per cent of active Covid-19 cases, and asserted if the virus is defeated in these states, then the country will also emerge victorious in its fight against the pandemic.

At a video conference with chief ministers of these 10 states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, Modi said the recovery rate has gone up which, he added, meant that government efforts have proved to be effective.

The Centre and states have been able to work as a team in the fight against Covid-19, he said.

"Our experience so far is that containment, contact tracing and surveillance are the most effective weapons against the pandemic with experts of the view that if positive cases are identified within 72 hours of onset, then infection slows down to great extent," the prime minister said.

Modi said it was a matter of satisfaction that the average fatality rate in India has been going down and noted that it has been very low compared to the world average.

Chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab, Bihar, Gujarat, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh were invited for the virtual meet.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami said Centre should fund 50 per cent of the cost of RT-PCR tests done for detecting COVID-19 and also finance the procurement of high-end ventilators, adding proactive strategy has led to a slide in new positive cases in Chennai and the model was being replicated in other parts of the state.

"Tamil Nadu presently has 130 labs for Covid testing with 61 government and 69 private labs, with an average testing capacity of 65,000 tests per day. These tests cost nearly five crore rupees a day. I request the government of India to fund 50 per cent of the cost of the PCR tests from the PM CARES fund," he said.

The chief minister said over 3.29 million samples have been tested so far in the state.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh during the meet sought a liberal financial package to fill the revenue collection gap caused by the pandemic.

Punjab has seen 50 per cent decline in revenue for the first quarter of the current financial year.

The chief minister also said the cap of 35 per cent in the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) for Covid-19 related expenditure, as per the Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines, is not sufficient to meet the current requirements and sought flexibility in coronavirus-related terms of expenditure.