COVID-19: PM Modi to hold video conf with state CMs on Thursday

Prime Minister Narendra will hold a video conference with all chief ministers on Thursday during which issues such as ways to contain the spread of COVID-19, movement of migrants and contact tracing of Tablighi Jamat participants are likely to come up for discussion, sources said on Wednesday.

The availability of essential items will also be discussed during the conference, they added.

This will be the second such interaction in less than two weeks on the critical issue of the COVID-19 outbreak and related matters, and the first after the Central government imposed a 21-day nationwide lockdown from March 25. The last interaction took place on March 20.

Sources said issues including the ways to contain the spread of virus, large-scale movement of migrant workers, availability of essential commodities and extensive contact tracing of participants of Tablighi Jamat meet at Nizamuddin here are some of the issues which are expected to be discussed.

According to officials, contact tracing in several states is underway to identify, quarantine and test all the people who attended a gathering of almost 4,000 people inDelhi's Markaz Nizamuddinin mid-March.

India has registered 386 new cases of COVID-19 in last 24 hours, taking the tally to 1,637 in the country, the government said on Wednesday, and linked the sharp increase in number of cases to the Tablighi meet at Nizamuddin which has become the new epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country --from Kashmir to Tamil Nadu.