Challenges posed by Covid not fully over: PM Modi tell CMs

New Delhi: Advising the states to remain alert, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the challenges posed by the Coronavirus are not fully over in the country.

The Prime Minister was addressing the 24th review meeting with Chief Ministers to take a nationwide stock of the situation arising out of growing incidents of the Covid infection across the country.

"It is clear that the challenges posed by Covid are not fully over. Europe is an example how the Omicron and other variants could create a serious situation. The sub-variants are causing many surges in many countries. For the past two weeks, the way Covid cases are rising in some states, we need to remain alert," he said.

Modi said that it was the government's priority to vaccinate all eligible children as soon as possible. Special drives need to be conducted in schools to make it happen, he said.

"Since the schools are open after a long time, parents are somehow worried due to growing cases of Covid. It's a matter of satisfaction that maximum children have been administered with Covid vaccine," he said.

The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction at the pace at which the vaccination drive against the pandemic has progressed in the country so far.

"The vaccine has reached in all corners of the country irrespective of the geographical conditions. It's a matter of pride to every Indian that 96 per cent adult population of India has been administered with the first dose of Covid vaccine," he said. "According to experts, vaccine is the biggest safeguard against corona. We need to work on the suggestions of the experts with a preemptive, proactive an collective approach."

The Prime Minister said that in the third Covid wave, none of the states reported the situation going out of control. "We have learnt a lot with our experience in dealing with Covid. All countrymen successfully fought against the Omicron wave without panic. In the past two years, from health infrastructure to Oxygen supply, the country has done the needful," he said.

The Prime Minister told the Chief Ministers to ensure that the work being done to upgrade health infrastructure continued ceaselessly. "We have to find new ways to scale up medical infrastructure and manpower."

The Prime Minister also urged the states to conduct safety audits in hospitals due to rising temperature and incidents of fire. He asked the states to find out ways to reduce the response time in such cases and ensure there were no loss of lives. (UNI)