Modi Intervenes To Contain COVID-19 Spread In India's North East

(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 18th Jul, 2021) From Krishnan Nayar NEW DELHI, 13th July, 2021 (WAM) – India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking head on a surge in COVID-19 cases in his country’s north-eastern region, where more than three out of every five districts reported an infection rate in excess of 10 per cent last week.

The Prime Minister today met Chief Ministers of eight north-eastern states and reviewed "timely action" to contain the pandemic. The meeting was also attended by the Federal Ministers for Home, Defence, Health, Department for the North Eastern Region and several other ministers.

India’s north-eastern region had seen low incidence of COVID-19 during India’s first and second waves of the pandemic and some states had been declared free of the virus. Therefore, the rise in infections is cause for concern and hence the direct intervention by Modi.

The Prime Minister expressed deep worry over the growing number of cases in some districts and stressed the need to catch these signals and take strict actions at the micro level. He cautioned against overcrowding at hill stations without observing COVID-appropriate precautions.

The concern is also partly because India’s hospitality industry is heavily staffed by people from the north-east. So the containment of the pandemic in that region is vital for the revival of tourism and entertainment businesses all over India.

"Testing infrastructure will be increased on priority in every district of the north-east, especially in the severely affected districts," Modi told the Chief Ministers. "Our entire team will work to stop the growth that is being seen in Coronavirus infections in the north-east in the coming days and we will get success."