PM Narendra Modi to chair Cabinet meet to review COVID-19 situation, tough decisions likely

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a Union Cabinet meeting which has been called to review the existing COVID-19 situation in the country and to discuss what other measures can be taken to contain the chain of coronavirus infection.

According to the sources, the meeting will begin around 11 AM. During the crucial meeting, the Prime Minister along with top Union Cabinet ministers is expected to take some tough decisions to contain the pandemic from spreading further.

The meeting of the Union Council of Ministers will be held via video conference. Earlier on Thursday, PM Modi met Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane and reviewed the COVID-19 preparedness and initiatives of the troops. 

"They discussed various initiatives being taken by the Army to help in Covid management," the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement.

Gen Naravane informed that the Army is opening up its hospitals for civilians wherever possible and that citizens can approach their nearest Army hospitals, the PMO statement said.

On Wednesday, the PM held a similar discussion with Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria. PM Modi also chaired a meeting with top officials to review the Covid-19 situation in the country during which he was given an overview of the situation in the country relating to oxygen availability, medicines, health infrastructure, etc.

The Empowered Group working on boosting Oxygen Supply briefed the Prime Minister on the efforts being made to ramp up the availability and supply of oxygen in the country. 

They informed the PM about increasing the allocation of Oxygen to states. It was discussed that the production of LMO in the country has increased from 5700 MT/day in August 2020 to the present 8922 MT (on 25th April 2021). The domestic production of LMO is expected to cross 9250 MT/day by the end of April 2021.

PM instructed the officials to work closely with state governments to start the PSA Oxygen plants at the earliest. Officers also apprised the PM that they are encouraging states to also set up PSA Oxygen plants.

PM was briefed about the functioning of the Oxygen Express Railways Service as well as the domestic sorties & international sorties undertaken by IAF to transport oxygen tankers.

The Empowered Group working on Medical Infrastructure and Covid management briefed the PM on efforts being undertaken to ramp up availability of beds and ICUs. 

They informed the PM on efforts to break the chain of transmission. PM stressed on the need to ensure that specific guidelines and strategies evolved regarding Covid management needs to be properly implemented by the relevant agencies in the States.

The Empowered Group working on communication informed the PM on the efforts being undertaken to improve awareness among people on Covid-related behaviour.

It may be noted that India registered 3,79,257 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, taking the cumulative caseload to 1,83,76,524, as per Union Health Ministry data on Thursday (April 29). India has been recording over three lakh cases every day for more than a week now.