Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla to chair virtual review meeting on COVID-19

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will hold a virtual meeting with the presiding officers and leaders of legislative bodies over the Coronavirus crisis in the country on April 19. According to an official statement issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the meeting will be held on the "Prevailing COVID-19 Situation and the Role, and Responsibility of Public Representatives." Apart from the Presiding Officers of State Legislatures, Ministers of Parliamentary Affairs/ Chief Whips and Leaders of Opposition in State Legislatures will also join the Virtual Meeting.

 "A Virtual Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Legislative Bodies in India and other Leaders on the subject “Prevailing COVID-19 Situation and the Role and Responsibility of Public Representatives” will be held on Monday, 19 April 2021.  Hon’ble Speaker, Lok Sabha and Chairman, All India Presiding Officers' Conference (AIPOC) Shri Om Birla will chair the Virtual Meeting," read an official statement of the Centre.

Notably, last month, the LS Speaker had contracted the Coronavirus. After testing positive for COVID-19 on March 19, he was admitted to the AIIMS hospital on March 20. 

Meanwhile, India crossed a grim landmark on Thursday after it registered over 2 lakh new COVID-19 cases within a 24 hour period, taking the total case tally to 1,40,74,564. As per the latest reports from MoHFW, in the last 24 hours, 2,00,739 new cases, 93,528 fresh recoveries, 1,038 deaths have been reported. As of now, the total number of active cases in India stand at 14,71,877.