New Delhi Mar 18: PM Narendra Modi chaired a review meeting on Wednesday to review the ongoing efforts to contain COVID-19 and will address the nation on Thursday on the efforts to combat it.
Modi is closely monitoring the situation daily and discussed on Wednesday the ways to further strengthen India’s preparedness, including further enhancing testing facilities and actively engaging with individuals, local communities and organisations in chalking our mechanisms to fight the COVID-19 menace.
The next 15 days are crucial in India’s battle against the COVID-19 outbreak and all efforts are being made to contain the spread of the disease during this period and in April, said government officials. The effort is to flatten the curve of infected cases in this period and sustaining the same over April.
“It was a major call (on March 11) and some termed it sudden but it came quickly in a few hours after the WHO (World Health Organization) declared coronavirus a global pandemic and our assessment of the cases,” said a senior official, who did not wish to be identified. “The US, with far more cases, announced a ban only on travel from Europe soon after and is now planning to expand it. The bar on incoming travellers was raised thereafter by India and we are ahead of the curve.”
Officials also highlighted that the PM has been in touch with leaders in SAARC countries as well as G20, aiming at both regional and international partnerships to take on the epidemic, amid an early acknowledgement that no country has the expertise to fight COVID-19 alone. While steps are already afoot for a cooperation and creation of a fund following the PM’s video conference with SAARC leaders earlier this week, a similar effort with G20 countries is also on the cards after PM Modi first spok about it with the Australian PM and then Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, as Saudi Arabia is the chair of G20.
(ET)
