CMs of NE asked to tighten Covid protocols

July 14, 2021 32 Views No Comment

Spl. Correspondent NEW DELHI, JUL 14 (NPN) : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday described as “worrisome” the COVID-19 situation in some districts of the North Eastern region and urged the chief ministers to stay alert and act fast to check the further spread of the virus.

Interaction with chief ministers of eight North-Eastern states through video conferencing, Prime Minister urged the chief ministers to take more strict steps at the micro level to prevent the spread of infection. “The more emphasis we put on the micro-containment zones, we will come out of this situation sooner,” Modi said.

Expressing concern over people crowding at hill stations and markets without wearing masks or observing social distancing norms, the Prime Minister urged all to guard against complacency to prevent a third wave of the coronavirus spread. Modi also asked the people to shun the argument that they “want to enjoy before the third wave of coronavirus” and stressed that there should be no compromise in following COVID-19 protocols.

“It is true that tourism, trade and business have been greatly affected due to the coronavirus. But today I will say with great emphasis that having huge crowds in hill stations, markets without masks and not following COVID protocols is a matter of concern and is not right,” he said.

Prime Minister said that the third wave could be prevented by remaining cautious and strictly following all protocols and emphasised that the vaccination drive needs to be continuously ramped.

During the interaction, the chief ministers discussed the issue of vaccine hesitancy and measures being taken to overcome it.

The chief ministers gave an assurance of taking timely action to bring down the positivity rate as well as the number of cases in their respective states.

Noting the fast mutating nature of the coronavirus, Modi advised strict monitoring of the changes and keeping track of all variants. The prime minister strongly advocated preventing avoidable gatherings. In his remarks, the prime minister said that in the ‘vaccine for all-free for all’ campaign of the central government, the Northeast also has the same importance.

The virtual meeting was attended by chief ministers of Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, as also by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, among others.

The chief ministers thanked the prime minister for timely action in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and appreciated his special care and concern for the Northeast.

Meanwhile, Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio also took to twitter and thanked Prime Minister for his personal concern for the North East states in the fight against the pandemic.

“We discussed the situation and measures to control #COVID19 pandemic. Grateful to the Hon’ble Prime Minister for his personal concern for the NE states in our fight against the pandemic,” Rio tweeted.

‘People treating 3rd wave warning like weather update’

PTI: People are talking about the third wave of coronavirus as casually as a “weather update”, the government said on Tuesday, noting that “gross violations” of Covid-appropriate behaviour being seen in several parts of the country can nullify the gains made so far in pandemic management.

Addressing a press conference on the pandemic situation in the country on Tuesday, NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr VK Paul said globally, the third wave of COVID-19 is being seen and called on people to make efforts to ensure that it does not hit India.

“The world is witnessing the third wave of COVID-19. We have to join hands to ensure that the third wave doesn’t hit India,” he said.

Agarwal said even though active cases and daily new cases are declining, recovery rate is increasing and cases are restricted to a limited geography, there is no room for complacency.

Source: http://www.nagalandpost.com/cms-of-ne-asked-to-tighten-covid-protocols/236363.html