PM Modi speaks to 4 chief ministers to take stock of Covid-19 situation

New Delhi, May 08: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on the COVID-19 situation in the state.

"PM Narendra Modi today telephoned CM Uddhav Thackeray and said that Maharashtra was fighting a good battle against the second wave. The CM requested that Maharashtra be given more strength in terms of oxygen & informed about various measures," said a statement from Maharashtra CMO.

"The PM and Union Govt have been guiding Maharashtra in the Corona War from the very beginning & it is being put to good use by the State Govt. The CM also thanked the PM for accepting some of Maharashtra's suggestions," it added.

The prime minister also spoke to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur in separate phone calls and discussed the coronavirus situation in their states.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed satisfaction with the efforts of the Madhya Pradesh government and assured all possible help from the central government," Chouhan tweeted in Hindi.

Madhya Pradesh added another 11,708 Covid cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the total tally to over 6.49 lakh.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur also updated the Prime Minister on what the state government is doing to provide oxygen to Covid patients, the status of hospital beds and the vaccination drive.

The hill state reported 4,177 COVID-19 cases on Friday, pushing its total caseload to over 1.22 lakh. 56 Covid patients died in the last 24 hours.

Modi has been interacting with chief ministers over telephone for the last couple of days to take stock of the pandemic situation in their states.

Maharashtra has been the worst-affected state during the second wave of the COVID-19 infections. Though some of its cities, including Mumbai, have seen consistent improvement, the situation in many parts of the state remains of concern.

The state recorded over 54,000 new cases of COVID-19 in a day, according to the the latest update.