PM Modi stresses on need to ramp up testing, tracing of COVID-19 cases in key CM meet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that India has able to fight COVID-19 and control its spread because of the timely measures taken by Central and state governments. Interacting with Chief Ministers of over a dozen states and union territories, PM Modi noted that the rising rate of recoveries of COVID-19 patients have kept the outbreak under control and stressed on the need to further boost the test, trace, isolate and treat strategy.

"Tracing, treatment, and reporting in a timely manner has kept the rate of recoveries high. Also, at present, ventilator and ICU care are needed for very few patients across the country. We have been able to fight COVID-19 and control its spread because of the timely measures taken by us," PM Modi said. 

He added, "The discipline shown by citizens during the lockdown has averted any exponential growth in cases. Whether it is about the health infrastructure, treatment facilities, trained manpower, we are in a much stable position."

"With an increase in the number of corona patients, the expansion of health infrastructure should be our utmost priority. This will happen when each corona patient will get proper treatment, for this we'll have to emphasize on testing so that we can test,trace and isolate infected persons," the PM asserted.

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Enough stocks of diagnostic kits available

The Prime Minister highlighted that the country, as well as the world, was facing a shortage in Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and diagnostic kits just three months back due to dependence on imports. He said the situation has been turned around and now "more than one crore PPEs and an equal number of N95 masks have reached the states".

"We have enough stocks of diagnostic kits and their domestic production has been ramped up," he added.

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Situation in big states, cities under control

The PM also noted that the outbreak of coronavirus in big states and big cities like Mumbai and Delhi is large but expressed confidence that the situation will be under control.

"I had detailed discussions on 'Unlock 1' yesterday (with states/UTs). Its a fact that the outbreak of coronavirus in big states and big cities is large. In some cities, a more dense population, small houses, lack of physical distancing in roads and lanes, the daily commute of thousands of people, have all made the fight against the epidemic more challenging. Yet, the determination of the people, the proactiveness of the local administration, and the dedication of our Corona Warriors has allowed us to keep the situation under control," said PM Modi.

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The meeting comes on a day the country registered the highest-ever spike of 2,003 COVID-19 fatalities pushing the death toll to 11,903. The total number of positive cases in the country now stands 3,54,065 at including 1,55,227 active cases, 1,86,935 cured/discharged/migrated.

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