Work on war footing, identify COVID-19 hotspots, PM Modi tells CMs
In his meeting with chief ministers of various states on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in the next few weeks testing, tracing, isolation and quarantine should remain the focus areas. “Imperative to work on a war footing, identify COVID-19 hotspots, encircle them, ensure the virus doesn’t spread,” PM Modi further said.
The Indian Council of Medical Research has issued an interim advisory for use of rapid antibody tests of the population in hotspot areas even as the toll due to coronavirus rose to 50 in India on Thursday. The number of active cases increased by over a hundred to 1,764 from the previous day. On the brighter side, no new coronavirus cases have been reported in the past 18 hours in Karnataka.
Meanwhile, authorities used drones to disinfect the Nizamuddin area, which has emerged as the hotspot for the coronavirus outbreak in the national capital.
The Congress Working Committee held a meeting in which party president Sonia Gandhi told leaders that the 21-day lockdown may have been necessary but the unplanned manner in which it was implemented caused chaos and pain in the lives of millions of migrant workers. She asked the government to publish a ‘Common Minimum Relief Programme’ to help the people in distress.
Worldwide, the number of cases is nearly 10 lakh, with the highest infections in the US, Italy, Spain and China. The global death toll is nearly 47,000. Italy has seen the most deaths due to the virus, followed by Spain, France, China and Iran. As cases increase, the question on everyone’s mind is: How will the pandemic end? Listen to our podcast.
INDIAN EXPRESS
