PM Modi asks states to follow Punjab's COVID-19 containment strategy

Appreciating Punjabs Covid microcontainment and housetohouse surveillance strategy Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked all other states to adopt the model which was helping Punjab successfully control the spread of the pandemic to a significant extentIntervening as Chief Minister Amarinder Singh was describing the states model to combat Covid Modi suggested that all states should follow the same strategic approach to effectively counter the pandemicAppreciating Punjabs Covid microcontainment and housetohouse surveillance strategy Prime Minister narendramodi on Tuesday asked all other states to adopt the model which was helping Punjab successfully control the spread of the pandemic to a significant extent pictwittercomomeHuAgx5ymdash IANS Tweets ians_india June 16 2020The Prime Minister was conducting a video conference meeting with Chief Ministers of several states as part of his scheduled twoday interactions to review the Covid situation and management strategies of all the states He will be holding a similar meeting with the remaining Chief Ministers on WednesdayDuring the meeting Amarinder Singh suggested to the Prime Minister that a group which should include a few Chief Ministers be set up to discuss and formulate a coordinated Centrestate response to the devastating impact of Covid on the economyDuring the conference with Modi who was joined by Union Home Minister Amit Shah Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan the Chief Minister requested the Centre should work closely with the states to ease the distress caused by the pandemic and the subsequent lockdownWhile living with Covid was the new normal since the lockdown could not continue indefinitely as the cycle of economy once broken takes a long time to restart the need of the hour was to take care of both lives and livelihoods as the Prime Minister had himself said in his meeting in April he notedAmarinder Singh recalled that when in early April he had said Covid impact could go on till September he had been called an alarmist by some people But with experts now warning that the pandemic could continue even beyond September it was important to learn to coexist with it and cope with it better he said underlining the need for the Central and state governments to work in close coordinationCalling for urgent steps to mitigate Punjabs financial stress he said a detailed memorandum had already been sent to the Centre listing out the impact of Covid19 and also seeking fiscal and nonfiscal assistanceEven as he thanked the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister for the release of GST payment of around Rs 2800 crore in early June Amarinder Singh said while he appreciated that the Centre was also under financial stress he had to request for release of the states pending share of taxes to tide over the fiscal crisisThe crisis in Punjab was likely to be acute with around Rs 2500030000 crore shortfall in revenue collection on various counts he saidEven though Punjabs contribution to the allIndia cases was less than one per cent at 3140 cases at present with a mortality rate of 21 per cent and recovery rate of 75 per cent the curve was rising as a result of the inbound travellers and the easing of restrictions and more mixing of people the Chief Minister said giving a status update on the Covid situation prevailing in the stateEmphasising the need for more tests despite the current 5527 tests per million in Punjab being higher than the all India average of 4088 Amarinder Singh reiterated his request to the Prime Minister to direct Central institutions in Chandigarh and Punjab to increase testing capacityCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever