New Delhi: In the first-ever meeting on the Covid-19 global pandemic with the chief ministers this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday urged them to start their preparation to tackle any future variants of the virus that may follow the highly transmissible Omicron variant which was first discovered in South Africa in November last year.
India Wednesday reported more than 2,47,000 new Covid cases.
“In order to beat the coronavirus, we need to be one step ahead of every variant of the virus. We must simultaneously start our preparation to tackle any future variant at a time when we are fighting the Omicron variant,” Prime Minister Modi told the chief ministers.
Urging the chief ministers to work pro-actively and collectively with the Union government as earlier, the Prime Minister said vaccines remain the most effective tool to combat the deadly virus.
Prime Minister Modi also emphasized the need to counter any confusion over the efficacy of vaccines.
“Several times we get to hear what is the use of vaccines if despite vaccinations people are getting infected. Similar rumors are spread about masks that they are of no use. We must strongly counter such rumors,” PM Modi told the chief ministers.
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The Prime Minister said the three-pronged strategy of testing, tracking, and isolation would remain effective against the virus.
“If we would be able to keep the number of infections low then we would face equally fewer problems. We also need to continue to scale up our medical infrastructure and medical manpower,” he said.
Talking about the development of medical infrastructure and telemedicine facilities, Prime Minister Modi informed the chief ministers that more than 800 pediatric care units have been sanctioned in the district hospitals and medical colleges across the country.
“Nearly 1,50,000 oxygen, ICU and HDU beds are getting ready. More than 5,000 special ambulances and more than 950 liquid medical oxygen storage tank capacity have been added,” said the Prime Minister.
He said several efforts have been made to augment the medical infrastructure at the state level with the help of a special package of Rs 23,000 crore which was sanctioned around six months back.
“We must continue to expand the health infrastructure,” he said.
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Talking about the traditional Indian medicines such as Kadha (herbal potion), the Prime Minister said we must continue to use such traditional Indian knowledge.
“These herbal things, the tradition of drinking Kadha, is very useful in this season. Nobody is saying that it should be taken as medicine but they have their own utility. I would urge the people that we must focus on these traditional things that are part of our household,” said the Prime Minister.
Under the Disaster Management Act of 2005, while Prime Minister heads the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) are headed by chief ministers.
