New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a high level meeting on Friday on Covid – 19 situation and vaccination as the Government noted high caseloads in states like Kerala and Maharashtra to say that there can be no room for complacency.

He reviewed the status of augmentation of bed capacity for pediatric care and of facilities supported under Covid – 19 Emergency Response Package II and it was noted that states have been advised to redesign and orient primary care and block level health infrastructure in these areas to manage the situation in rural areas, a statement said.

PM @narendramodi chairs high level meeting to review the #Covid19 related situation and vaccination@PMOIndia #IndiaFightsCOVID19 #Unite2FightCorona pic.twitter.com/kFTS6orDTG

— DD News (@DDNewslive) September 10, 2021

States are being asked to maintain a buffer stock for drugs used in the management of Covid – 19, Mucormycosis, MIS-C at the district level, it added. It was discussed that across the world, there are countries where the number of active Covid – 19 cases continues to remain high. In India too, the figures from states like Maharashtra and Kerala indicate that there can be no room for complacency, said in the statement.

Modi stressed the need to rapidly augment the entire ecosystem to ensure increased oxygen availability, including oxygen concentrators, cylinders and PSA plants. Efforts are also on to install 961 Liquid Medical Oxygen storage tanks and 1,450 medical gas pipeline systems with an aim to support at least one such unit per district, the Government said. The ambulance network is also being augmented to ensure at least one ambulance per block.

He also reviewed the status of PSA oxygen plants coming up across the country and told that around one lakh oxygen concentrators and three lakh oxygen cylinders have been distributed to states.

He was also briefed about the concentration of cases in a few geographies, districts with high test positivity as well as the week on week test positivity rate in the country. The statement noted that around 58% of India’s adult population has received the first dose and nearly 18% both doses. Modi was also updated about the vaccine pipeline and increased supply of vaccines.

Modi spoke about the need for constant genome sequencing to monitor emergence of mutants. He was informed that INSACOG (SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortium) now consists of 28 labs distributed across the country. The lab network is also linked with a hospital network for clinical correlation. Sewage sampling is also being done for genomic surveillance. States have been requested to share SARS COV2 positive samples with INSACOG regularly.

Modi highlighted the need to ensure adequate testing across the country and was told about the support being given to 433 districts to establish RT-PCR lab facility in public health facilities. The Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Cabinet Secretary, Principal Scientific Advisor, Health Secretary, member (health) NITI Aayog and other important officials were present in the meeting.