States-Centre must formulate common exit strategy to ensure staggered re-emergence of population

New Delhi, Apr 02: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday interacted with Chief Ministers to take stock of the situation in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The PM said that it is truly praiseworthy how the States have worked together as a team to check the spread of the virus.

The States and Centre must formulate a common exit strategy to ensure staggered re-emergence of population once Lockdown ends, the PM said. Our goal is to ensure minimum loss of life, he also said.

The Prime Minister thanked the States for supporting the decision of lockdown due to which India has achieved some success in limiting the spread of COVID-19. He praised how all the States have worked together as a team to check the spread of the virus. He however forewarned that the global situation remains far from satisfactory and informed about speculations of a possible second wave of spread of the virus in some countries.

Modi outlined that the common goal for the country is to ensure minimum loss of life. In the next few weeks, testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine should remain the areas of focus. He highlighted the necessity of maintaining supply of essential medical products, availability of raw material for manufacture of medicines and medical equipment. He said it is necessary to ensure availability of separate, dedicated hospital facilities for COVID-19 patients. To increase the availability of doctors, he asked the States to tap into the resource pool of AYUSH doctors, organise online training and utilise para-medical staff, NCC and NSS volunteers.