COVID-19 management: PM Narendra Modi to interact with field officials from states, districts today

Image courtesy: ANI

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be interacting with field officials from states and districts to know about their experience in handling the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday (May 18) at 11 am. A statement issued by the Prime Minister`s Office (PMO) said that officials from Karnataka, Bihar, Assam, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi will take part in the meeting.

According to the statement, "Through their interaction with the Prime Minister, the officials will share some best practices, in addition to suggestions and recommendations for continuing our ongoing battle against COVID-19, especially in semi-urban and rural areas." PMO statement said.

It further said, "A better appreciation of such initiatives will help towards developing an effective response plan, targeted strategy implementation and support necessary policy interventions." 

Many effective measures have been taken - from ensuring that strict containment measures are undertaken to control the spread, to preparing the healthcare facilities for handling the raging second wave, to ensuring availability of healthcare workforce and a seamless supply chain for logistics, these districts in their relentless efforts to manage the situation also have success stories that could be replicated across the country, the statement added.

Earlier official sources said that in the meeting district magistrates from 46 districts across nine states will participate. The prime minister will have a similar meeting on May 20 in which top officials of 54 districts from 10 states are scheduled to attend, they told PTI.

The PMO statement said that the battle against COVID-19 across various districts and states is being led at the cutting edge by field-level officials.

Notably, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 18.44 crore with 14,79,592 doses given on Monday, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The ministry said 6,63,329 beneficiaries in the age group of 18-44 years received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Monday and cumulatively 59,32,704 people across 36 states and UTs since the start of phase-3 of the vaccination drive.

The 59,32,704 beneficiaries include 9,28,962 from Rajasthan; 8,22,516 from Bihar; 7,07,408 from Delhi; 6,55,673 from Maharashtra; 5,26,988 from Uttar Pradesh; 5,12,445 from Gujarat and 4,99,762 from Haryana. The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 18,44,22,218 as per the 8 PM provisional report on May 17, the ministry said.

Among the people who were given 18,44,22,218 doses were 96,58,913 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the first dose and 66,52,200 who have taken the second dose; 1,44,97,411 Frontline Workers (FLWs) who have received the first dose and 82,16,750 who have taken the second dose.

As many as 59,32,704 individuals in the 18-44 years age group have taken the first dose. Besides, 5,76,53,924 and 92,39,392 beneficiaries over 45 to 60 years old have been administered the first and second dose respectively, while 5,46,60,900 and 1,79,10,024 beneficiaries above 60 years have taken the first and second dose respectively.

The ministry added that vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from COVID-19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level.

(With Agency Inputs)