Have to take quick and decisive steps to stop the second peak of coronavirus cases in the country: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called on the chief ministers to stop an emerging "second peak" in Covid-19 cases, asking them to ensure RT-PCR testing remained above 70% and open more vaccination centres. It was pointed out at the meeting that 70 districts of the country had recorded a 150% rise in cases in the past few weeks.

"If we don’t stop this pandemic right now, then there could be a nationwide outbreak. We have to immediately stop the emerging second peak and take big and decisive steps," said the PM as he expressed concerns at the high positivity rates in states like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

"So far, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities had not been affected by the virus. But now it is spreading to these areas. Once it reaches there, it will spread to our rural areas and could strain our healthcare system. We have to prevent the virus from spreading to rural areas," he said adding that the country would need to energise the referral system and ambulance network in small cities.


At the meeting, home minister Amit Shah listed out the districts requiring special focus of the CMs to contain the spread. The union health secretary also gave a presentation on the current Covid-19 situation and vaccination strategy in the country.

Micro-containment Zones
Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh sought a review of the vaccination strategy, suggesting that all age groups must be covered in affected areas. Telangana also suggested that more people should be covered in the vaccination drive.

Modi also cautioned against lowering the guard in his virtual address, while highlighting that India still had one of the lowest fatality rates in the world with more than 96% cases already recovered. “The self-confidence that we gained in our corona fight should not turn into overconfidence. Our success should not be the reason for carelessness.”

The PM also pointed out that there is growing laxity in precautionary measures like wearing masks and the local administration needs to enforce the same seriously.

To this end, Modi spoke of the provision for micro-containment zones to control the spread of the disease. He stressed on following the “Test, Track and Treat” model with the same seriousness as was shown in the last one year.