NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday advised chief ministers to prepare for the next phase of unlocking the country, dispelling rumours of a fresh round of nationwide lockdown in the wake of the Covid pandemic.He also sought their help in addressing emotional challenges associated with the outbreak, including stigma.
Modi is learnt to have told Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao that there would be no more fresh nationwide lockdowns. Asking chief ministers to speed up economic activities, he said, “We now need to think about Unlock 2.0 and how to minimise all possibilities of harm to our people.” Modi urged them to take steps to boost activities related to infrastructure and the construction sector.
Dwelling on the emotional aspect of the pandemic, he said: “We have to find ways by which we can pull our citizens out of the stigma born out of the fear of the virus.”He underlined that the number of people who have recovered from the infection is high and is increasing rapidly. Therefore, those who contract Covid-19 need not panic, he added.
As many as 15 chief ministers, including those of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar took part in Wednesday’s virtual discussion.The PM stressed on the need to ramp up testing for the virus.The chief ministers were urged to utilise the existing testing capacity to the maximum while working on expanding them.
Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah, in his brief remarks, said that the battle against the coronavirus pandemic is still not over and utmost precaution must be taken. The chief ministers sought to draw the Centre’s attention towards the need to expeditious beef up the country’s key health infrastructure, including the availability of ventilators.