Coronavirus has attacked our faith, belief, it is important to maintain peace, PM tells CMs

New Delhi, Apr 02: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that it is imperative to work on a war footing identify hotspots of the virus, encircle them and ensure that the virus does-not spread out.

He said that it is pertinent to maintain peace and law and order across the country. He added that COVID-19 has attacked our faith and belief and is threatening our way of life.

He appealed to the leaders to reach out to community leaders and social welfare organisations at state, district, town and block levels to build up a united front based on community-approach in the battle against the pandemic. The comments were made by the PM during his interaction with the Chief Ministers today.

Prime Minister thanked the Chief Ministers for their suggestions and also for apprising about the situation on the ground. He said it is imperative to work on war footing,
The Chief Minister thanked the Prime Minister for his leadership, continuous guidance and support in this time of crisis. They appreciated the Prime Minister for taking the bold and timely decision of Lockdown which has helped check the spread of the virus in the country.

They mentioned their efforts of maintaining social distancing, tracking suspect cases, identifying and quarantining suspect cases arising from Nizamuddin Markaz, containing community transmission, boosting up of medical infrastructure, strengthening medical workforce, provision of tele-medicine, provision of mental health counselling, distribution of food and other essentials to those in need and taking care of migrant workers. The States spoke about the importance of mobilising resources, financial as well as medical, to mitigate the crisis.

Prime Minister said that it is important to formulate a common exit strategy to ensure staggered re-emergence of the population once Lockdown ends. He asked the States to brainstorm and send suggestions for the exit strategy. He reiterated the importance of social distancing in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Union Home Minister, Amit Shah 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.

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

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.