States can play important role in Covid fight, Modi tells CMs during COVID-19 review meeting

Mumbai, Aug 11: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the chief ministers of 10 states on Tuesday to review the coronavirus situation in the regions even as the country's Covid-19 tally surged beyond the 2.26-million mark, including more than 45,000 deaths.

The Prime Minister held a video conference with the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab, Bihar, Gujarat, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh at 11am.

During the video conference meeting Modi said,''Every state is fighting the battle against the challenging situation arising due to COVID19 pandemic. Role of each and every state is very significant in overall control of the spread of the disease,''," he said.

He added that the average fatality rate has been continuously decreasing while the recovery rate is increasing every day, this shows that measures being taken by us are in the right direction.

Modi stressed on the importance of testing to quickly trace, track and isolate those affected. He said,''Experts are saying now that if within 72 hours, a person is diagnosed, then the spread can be controlled to a great extent. So, it is important that all the people who come in contact with an infected person must be tested within 72 hours.''

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had said the current gap of 35% in State Disaster Relief Fund for COVID-19 related expenditure, as per MHA guidelines, is not sufficient to meet current requirements of the state.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu CM K Palaniswami told Modi,"We have received Rs 512.64 crore from Centre in two tranches under Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness package out of Rs 712.64 crore allotted to the state. I request this package may be stepped up to Rs 3,000 crore as my earlier request."

Tuesday's interaction with Prime Minister was the seventh such meeting with chief ministers on the pandemic.

PM Modi's last meeting with the heads of the states to discuss the coronavirus situation was held in June.