Surge in COVID-19 cases: PM Modi to meet all CMs on March 17

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to hold a virtual meeting with chief ministers of all states on Wednesday, March 17, amid rising cases of COVID-19 in the country.

The meeting slated to be held via video-conferencing, will begin at 12:30 pm, where PM Modi will take stock of the situation and will likely assess the country's vaccination drive that began two months back.

Wednesday's meeting will be the first such discourse between the PM and the CMs since the government launched the world's largest vaccination drive against COVID-19 on January 16.

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The Prime Minister held several such virtual meetings with CMs of several states and UTs earlier as well, with last such discussion held in January this year ahead of the rollout of coronavirus vaccines.

PM Modi had in November last year presided over an e-meeting of all CMs to review COVID-19 management, asking them to check coronavirus transmission and bring the positivity rate under 5%.

A similar meeting also took place in August. As per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), eight states, comprising Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, are witnessing a spike in new coronavirus cases.

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan told reporters on Monday that neglect towards COVID-appropriate behaviour has led to an upsurge in confirmed cases of coronavirus in several parts of the country.

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