You are like field commanders in fight against COVID-19, PM Narendra Modi tells district officials

PM Modi also talked about the declining trend in COVID-19 cases in the past few days and said that everyone needs to be alert.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (May 18, 2021) interacted with the district officials of several states and told them that they are like the field commanders in the fight against COVID-19. 

During a virtual conference amid the second wave of coronavirus in India, the Prime Minister said, "You all are playing a very important role in the battle against Corona. In a way, you are the field commanders of this battle."

PM Modi said that during the first wave, India didn't shut the farming sector and expressed that he was astonished to see how villagers were maintaining social distancing in the fields.

"Villages grasp the information and modify it according to their needs. This is the strength of villages," he noted. 

Prime Minister Modi said that in the battle against this virus, India's weapons are local containment zone, aggressive testing and sending correct and complete information to the people. 

He also talked about the declining trend in COVID-19 cases in the past few days and said that everyone needs to be alert. 

"I have been requesting in the meetings which were held in last one year that our fight is to save every single life," PM Modi said.

Officials from Karnataka, Bihar, Assam, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, MP, Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi took part in the meeting.

Meanwhile, India saw a dip in COVID-19 cases, but the fatalities rose in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry's data showed on Tuesday morning. There were 2,63,533 new infections, alongside 4,329 coronavirus-related casualties, which notably is India's highest single-day rise in COVID-19 deaths.

The country's total caseload has now increased to 2,52,28,996, while the death toll has soared to 2,78,719.