Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called big crowds at hill stations and markets without masks and social distancing a matter of concern in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The prime minister's remarks came a few days after videos and pictures showing large crowds at hill stations and tourist spots without masks and in blatant violation of COVID-appropriate behaviour across the country went viral on social media. While trade and tourism have been affected by the pandemic, it is not right to have huge crowds at hill stations and markets without masks, Modi said during an interaction with chief ministers of eight North Eastern states through video conferencing. The virtual meeting was attended by chief ministers of Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, among others, also attended the meeting. Also Read: Serum Institute becomes 7th Indian partner to manufacture Russia's Sputnik V vaccine
Modi said some districts in North East have been seeing rise in infections, and asked administration to remain alert and also spread awareness among the people. "We all need to work together to stop the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic," he said. The prime minister asked states to take strict measures at microlevel to prevent the spread of virus, and to adopt the best practices from across the country which have been learned in the last one-and-a-half years. Modi said vaccination has to be ramped up to defeat the virus. Besides, testing, prevention and treatment are other important tools in this fight. Emphasising the need to keep an eye on each variant of coronavirus, he said experts are constantly studying how troubling the virus could be after mutations, but in such a dynamic situation, prevention and treatment are very important. The prime minister also asked the states to ramp up their health infrastructure. While Centre has approved a Rs 23,000-crore package to improve testing and treatment infrastructure, new oxygen plants have also been sanctioned under the PM-CARES Fund, he said. About 150 oxygen plants have been sanctioned for North Eastern states, Modi said, urging the chief ministers to make sure that the construction is completed timely. He also asked states to arrange the necessary trained manpower for the new plants, ICU beds, among others, and said the Centre is prepared to help them on the issue.
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