‘Can’t let our guard down’

ON LOCKDOWN

“In the last few days, we spoke with large sections of people… The larger public opinion suggests that we cannot let our guard down now. So, we are forced to increase the lockdown by another week for the safety of people. If we survive, we can think of economic recovery in later stages.”

ON COVID SITUATION

“On April 20, we were forced to impose a lockdown because of an unprecedented increase in Covid-19 cases... On April 26, the positivity rate increased to 35%... because of the lockdown, the situation has slowly started improving. Positivity rate has now reduced. We cannot afford to go back to a worse situation from this stage.”

ON PREPAREDNESS

We used the lockdown period to strengthen health infrastructure. Oxygen beds were added. We need to continue doing that. We also faced a severe shortage of oxygen because of the high number of cases and high proportion of severe cases... Now the oxygen situation has slightly improved.”

ON VACCINATIONS

“The vaccine drive has also been expanded now. All arrangements are in place and turnout is high. There is a shortage of stock but we have sought help from the central government in this regard and we are sure this will be resolved soon.