Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took stock of India's COVID-19 battle, even as the country saw a record spike of 11,458 novel coronavirus cases on Saturday. India's total tally as per the Health Ministry's website stands at 3,08,993.
The death toll stands at 8,884 as of Saturday afternoon.
"Reviewed the COVID-19 situation across the nation during a high level meeting. We also reviewed the roadmap ahead, and steps to contain the pandemic in the parts where most cases are coming from," the Prime Minister wrote on Twitter.
Alongside the Prime Minister, the meeting was attended by Home Minister Amit Shah, the Health Minister, the Principal Secretary to PM, Cabinet Secretary, Health Secretary, DG ICMR and others.
As per a PIB press release, the meeting reviewed the status and preparation of the nation, as well as taking stock of the situation in various states and union territories. As a PIB release notes, "It was observed that out of the total cases two-thirds are in 5 states with an overwhelming proportion of cases in big cities."
At present, Maharashtra remains the only state with more than 1 lakh recorded cases. Delhi is a distant second with more than 36,800 cases recorded thus far.
In recent days however, the case tally in the national capital has risen exponentially and taking this into account Modi suggested that the Home Minister and the Health Minister convene an emergency meeting with the Lt Governor and Chief Minister Delhi in presence of all senior officials of the centre as well as the Delhi government and officials of the Municipal Corporations of Delhi to determine the strategy going forward.
"In view of the challenges being faced, particularly by the large cities, it was discussed to augment testing as well as the number of beds and services to effectively handle the peak surge of daily cases," the PIB report adds.
In related news, the Prime Minister is also slated to interact with the Chief Ministers of various states and Union Territories on the June 16 and 17.
As per a tweet put out by the PMO, Modi will be interacting with the heads of 21 states and UTs on the first day at 3 pm, followed by discussions with the heads of 15 other states the next day.
