Need to implement lockdown more strictly in some States: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday talked about the need to implement lockdown more strictly in some states.

"Union Home Minister talked about the need to implement lockdown more strictly in some states and the importance of effective district-level implementation of the guidelines issued by the Centre," said a statement from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Shah on Thursday interacted with the Chief Ministers of States via video conferencing and discussed ways and means to combat the menace of COVID-19.

"Union Health Secretary apprised the dignitaries of the rise in a number of cases in India, the spread of cases from Nizamuddin Markaz, preparations to tackle medical cases arising out of the further spread of the virus and need to break transmission chain in the districts with a high number of confirmed cases," the press release said.

The Union Defence Minister, Health Minister, Principal Secretary, Cabinet Secretary, Home Secretary, and DG, ICMR also participated in the interaction. Along with the Chief Ministers, the Home Minister, Health Minister, Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and Health Secretary of the respective states also attended the video conference of Prime Minister with chief ministers of state on Thursday.

Prime Minister Modi praised how all the States have worked together as a team to check the spread of the virus.

He, however, forewarned that the global situation remains far from satisfactory and informed about speculations of a possible second wave of the spread of the virus in some countries.

Prime Minister Modi outlined that the common goal for the country is to ensure minimum loss of life.

"For the next few weeks, testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine should remain the areas of focus," he said while highlighting the necessity of maintaining the supply of essential medical products, availability of raw material for the manufacture of medicines and medical equipment.