Guwahati: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the first day of the two-day meeting with the Chief Ministers of the states, announced that the Covid-19 recovery rate in the country has risen above 50%.
"Despite our large population, we minimized the deaths and our recovery rate is 50%. That has become a point of discussion across the world,'' he said.
The Prime Minister also reiterated the need to don masks and always maintain 6-feet social distancing in order to mitigate the spread of the dreaded contagion.
The PM also said that India had begun its preparations to deal with the pandemic even before the issue was raised in the international forums. "Today, the recovery has exceeding 50%. It is one of the countries where people's lives are being saved(…)it is one of the countries with the lowest death rates", said the PM.
India's fight against coronavirus will be remembered in the future for how we worked together and served as an example of cooperative federalism, said the PM.
Mr. Modi said that the first phase of the lockdown has taught that if people continue following the "Thus, it is necessary to lay emphasis on the wearing of masks and face covers. People should not even consider stepping out without wearing masks or face covers. As much as it is harmful to the people themselves, it also harms those around. Thus, maintenance of six-feet distance, washing hands for 20 seconds after brief intervals, or usage of hand sanitizers – should be ingrained in all of us, said Mr. Modi.
The PM warned that the slightest negligence will undo all the hard work that has been done. "The more we can contain the spread of the virus, the more the economy will rejuvenate. The offices will open, the markets will open, the modes of transport will reopen, and more vistas of generating income will reopen", Modi said.
The country's economy is showing signs of improvement and is encouraging us to move ahead, said PM Modi.
Underling the return to form of the economy, the Prime said that we are now seeing green shoots in the economy. "Power consumption, for instance has increased, the sale of two wheelers was now at 70% of pre-lockdown numbers", Mr. Modi said.
The PM also urged the states to share individual experiences of their gameplans to kickstart the economy so that there was collective learning.
It needs mention that the Chief ministers of Punjab, Kerala, Goa, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, and those of the northeastern states are among others are talking part in the meet. LGs and administrators of some union territories are also attending Tuesday's brainstorming session.
India registered over 10,000 COVID-19 cases for the fifth day in a row pushing the tally to 3,43,091 on Tuesday, while the death toll rose to 9,900 with 380 new fatalities.