PM Modi to discuss current COVID-19 scenario with CMs of all states on January 13

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with Chief Ministers of all states on Thursday, January 13, to discuss the current COVID-19 related situation. The interaction will take place virtually between PM Modi and the CMs at 4:30 PM. PM Modi had last chaired a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation on January 9. The meeting was attended virtually by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, the Aviation Secretary, Home Secretary, Cabinet Secretary, Chairman of the Railway Board, and other senior officials.

During the interaction, a discussion was held by the PM to take stock of the COVID-19 situation in the nation against the backdrop of the rising cases of the Omicron variant.  He had urged officials to ensure adequate health infrastructure at the district level, accelerate vaccine drive for adolescents as well as continue scientific research in testing, vaccines, and genome sequencing.

On January 10, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had also interacted with Health Ministers from 5 States and 1 UT to discuss the preparedness amid the Omicron scare. The meeting was convened virtually between Mansukh Mandaviya and officials from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Maharashtra. During the meeting, the Union Health Minister advised the states to ensure that all kinds of oxygen infrastructure be checked such that it is in a functional/operational state, official sources revealed.

COVID-19 situation in India

The Union Health Ministry held a press briefing on January 12, after India reported over 1,94,000 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. In the press briefing, the Ministry addressed the alarming rate of infection in the country and stated that the Omicron variant, which has crossed the five lakh mark globally is replacing the Delta variant. India has reported 4,868 cases of Omicron so far in 28 States and UTs and 1,805 have recovered till now.

As of now, the active caseload in India stands at 9,55,319 with an average of 1.5 lakh new COVID cases being reported daily since the third wave hit the country a couple of weeks ago. According to the Health Ministry, the rise in cases is a result of a higher positivity rate, which jumped from 1.1 % on 30th December 2021 to 11.05% on 12th January 2022. 

(Image: ANI)