PM Modi calls for 'balanced strategy' to fight COVID-19; nationwide tally crosses 70k

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called for a "balanced strategy" to tackle the COVID-19 crisis as he sought inputs from states on the way forward in fighting the pandemic, while many more tested positive for the deadly virus and pushed the nationwide tally above the 70,000 mark.

The death toll also crossed 2,200, with many succumbing to COVID-19 in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat.

ALSO READ

Coronavirus: PM Modi discusses strategy to attract investment, accelerate growth

Interacting with chief ministers in a video conference, Modi flagged that problems have increased wherever social distancing norms were not followed, or where there has been laxity in the implementation of the lockdown guidelines. He also said the biggest challenge will be to ensure that the infection does not spread to villages, sources said.

The new cases detected in the past few days include migrant workers who have returned to their native places from big urban clusters, after being rendered jobless and homeless, as some were also airlifted from abroad under a massive evacuation plan undertaken by the government for Indians and expatriates stranded in various countries.

In its daily update, the Union Health Ministry said the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased to 67,152, after a record number of 4,213 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours till Monday 8 AM, while the death toll rose by 97 to 2,206. More than 20,000 people have recovered so far.

Maharashtra reported 1,230 new cases, taking the state tally to 23,401, while its death toll rose to 868 after 36 more fatalities.

Tamil Nadu reported 798 new cases and six more deaths on Monday.

Gujarat saw 347 fresh cases and 20 more fatalities, including 268 cases and 19 deaths in Ahmedabad itself.

In the national capital also, more than 300 new cases were detected.

Fresh cases were reported from various other states as well including Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Bihar, and Odisha.

During a press briefing on the COVID-19 situation, Union Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said some relatively large outbreaks have been noticed in particular locations and it is important to focus on containment efforts to ensure that the country does not reach the community transmission stage.

He also said that people who develop coronavirus symptoms should not go into hiding and come forward to report so that they get timely treatment and also do not spread the infection to their family members and others.

Asserting that the virus outbreak has nothing to do with race, religion, and area, the government's focus is on identifying pockets which have been reporting a larger number of cases for implementing strong containment measures.

During their interaction with the prime minister, some chief ministers also sought measures to expand the testing infrastructure, while many of them also demanded fiscal support for the states due to the pandemic having hit hard various revenue-generating economic activities.

Sources said Modi told the chief ministers that a "balanced strategy will have to be adopted for the road ahead", as he sought their suggestions on the way forward.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is said to have favoured allowing all economic activities, barring in the identified containment zones.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the Centre wanted a strict lockdown enforcement on one hand, but was resuming train services on the other.

Chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Telangana opposed resumption of passenger train services, which are scheduled to begin on Tuesday with select special trains for taking the stranded migrant workers to their native places.

The Home Ministry said only asymptomatic people with confirmed tickets will be allowed to travel in 15 trains to be operational from Tuesday. Online bookings began for these trains on Monday evening, after some delay due to a technical glitch, and some routes got fully booked within ten minutes.

The Railways have been running 'migrant special' trains for ferrying migrant workers since May 1, but this will be the first time in nearly 50 days that the general public can also undertake train journeys even though flight and inter-state bus services remain suspended as of now till May 17, when the third phase of the lockdown is scheduled to end.

The first phase of the nationwide lockdown began on March 25, which was supposed to be of 21 days, but it got extended later till May 3 and then further till May 17 with some relaxations.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asked Modi to show "specific and concrete direction" during the ongoing lockdown and said the states would implement the same. He also requested the prime minister to start local trains in Mumbai for essential services staff working in the city.

Mumbai's coronavirus tally has reached 14,355 with 791 new cases detected on Monday, while its death toll is 528 now with 20 more fatalities. At least 57 new cases were reported from the city's Dharavi slums.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh favoured extending the lockdown in view of the rising number of cases, but with a carefully crafted exit strategy backed by economic empowerment of states to save lives and secure livelihood.

Some chief ministers also suggested that the states should be allowed to decide declaring red, orange or green zones after taking into account the ground realities.

There are already concerns about re-emergence of the virus in some other countries, including in China, Germany and South Korea, after easing of lockdown restrictions and greater movement of people being allowed.

Since its emergence in China last December, the deadly virus has infected more than 41 lakh people worldwide and over 2.8 lakh have lost their lives. More than 14 lakh people have recovered so far.