On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the Chief Ministers of various states via video-conference. This was his fifth such meeting.
As cases continue to rise in India, the country is at present under the third phase of lockdown. The pan-India lockdown, enforced on March 25, was originally supposed to end on April 14. It was then extended to May 3, and then again to May 17. On Sunday the country recorded its largest single day spike in cases till date -- with over 4,200 people testing positive.
Speaking at the meeting, the Prime Minister was quoted by news agency ANI as saying that there had been "global recognition" of India's efforts to combat the virus.
"There is global recognition for India’s success in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and Government of India appreciates the efforts made by all state governments in this regard. Let us stay the course as we move forward together," Modi said.
While the virus and the consequent lockdown had brought most of the country to a halt, Modi assured that things were now looking up.
"Slowly but surely, economic activities have begun to pick up in several parts of the country," he said, adding that the process would "gather steam" in the coming days.
"We must realize that fight against COVID-19 has to be more focused now," the Prime Minister said.
Speaking about the spread of the virus Modi said that officials had now acquired "reasonably clear indication as to the geographical spread of the pandemic in India". This, he said, included the worst affected parts of the country.
"Moreover, over the past few weeks, officials have understood operating procedures in a time such as this, right up to the district level," he added.
India as of Monday evening has recorded more than 67100 positive cases. According to the data provided on the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's website, 2206 people have passed away.
