PM: No lockdowns, Unlock 2 soon

Large crowds made battle against Covid more challenging

Even as the Prime Minister on Wednesday observed during his meeting with the Chief Ministers that the spread of coronavirus is greater in some big states and cities owing to the density of population and movement of people, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot expressed disappointment at the fact that the challenges and limitations of centre and states were not discussed during the interaction.

In a series of tweets after the meeting with the Prime Minister, Gehlot said, “all states by now know the best practices to deal with Covid19. Disappointed to see that in today’s VC with PM, challenges and limitations of Centre and state have not been discussed. How the Centre will help states overcome hardships after lockdown should have been discussed.”

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee skipped the meeting, and the state chief secretary represented the state government.

Earlier, Modi said that the existing testing capacity must be utilised fully. He observed that the spread of the virus is greater in certain big states and cities.

“High density of population, difficulty in maintaining physical distancing and daily movement of people in huge numbers has made the situation challenging, yet through the patience of citizens, the readiness of administration and dedication of corona warriors, the spread has been kept under control. Through timely tracing, treatment and reporting, the number of those recovering is rising,” the Prime Minister said.

He added that the discipline shown by people during lockdown has prevented the exponential growth of the virus.

Wednesday’s interaction was the second part of the two-day interaction and witnessed participation of states and UTs, including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Telangana and Odisha.

Modi also spoke about the presence of better health infrastructure and trained manpower to meet the challenge.

He highlighted the increase in domestic manufacturing capabilities of PPEs, masks and availability of diagnostic kits in adequate quantity, as well as the supply of ventilators across the country.

He stressed on the importance of testing to quickly trace, track and isolate those affected.