80% of active COVID cases from 10 states; tracing, testing key: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a virtual meeting with Chief Ministers and representatives of 10 states to review the prevailing coronavirus situation. He said almost 80 per cent of India's total active cases were from these states, and advised them to ramp up testing, and concentrate on contact tracing, containment, and surveillance.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday interacted with the Chief Ministers and representatives of ten states including Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Maharashtra to discuss the current COVID-19 situation and the plan ahead for tackling the pandemic.

The prime minister stressed that nearly 80 per cent of India's total active cases were from the ten states - Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab, Bihar, Gujarat, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh. He said that if the states succeed in controlling the virus spread, the entire country would emerge victorious in the battle against COVID-19.

'Containment, contact tracing, surveillance key'

In his address during the video conference meeting, the Prime Minister advised that containment, contact tracing, and surveillance were key to effective management of the virus infections in the country.

The Prime Minister recounted how Union Home Minister Amit Shah prepared a roadmap to tackle the coronavirus pandemic in cooperation with Delhi and nearby states.

"The main pillars of this strategy were segregation of containment zones and focus on screening, especially of those in high-risk categories. The results of these steps are there for all to see," he said, adding that steps like better management in hospitals and increasing ICU beds also proved very helpful.

'Increase testing'

Modi pointed out that daily tests in the country had reached almost 7 lakh and were increasing continuously, which had helped in early identification of corona infections and their containment.

He said that the states with less testing of samples had more coronavirus cases and advised testing to be increased in states like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, West Bengal, and Telangana.

Bringing fatality rate below 1%

The average fatality rate in the country is among the lowest in the world and is continuously going down.

"The percentage of active cases is reducing, while the recovery rate is increasing," he said, adding, "Our efforts have given better results, which has increased the confidence of the people and brought down the fear factor."

The Prime Minister said that the target of bringing down the fatality rate below 1 per cent can be achieved soon.

(With inputs from agencies)