Protect livelihoods: PM Modi at Covid review meet

New Delhi, January 13

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday ruled out any lockdown in the wake of Covid surge and urged states and UTs to focus on local containment to ensure minimum impact on livelihoods and growth momentum.

Edit: Preventing homeward flight

2% hospitalisation, 20% during 2nd wave

Data from Chandigarh shows 23% bed occupancy against 85-100% during 2nd wave. Only 2% of 5,816 active cases are now hospitalised against 20% of 5,000 cases in May last year.

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‘Aap jiyen qayamat tak’: Channi to PM

Punjab CM Charanjit Channi on Thursday wished PM Modi a long life. He was quoted as having said: “Aap jiyen qayamat tak aur qayamat naa aaye.” He urged the PM to expedite health infra projects in Punjab that could not be inaugurated on January 5. TNS

“While making any strategy, it is very important to keep in mind that there should be minimum damage to economic activities. The momentum of growth should be maintained. It would be better to focus more on local containment,” the PM said in his closing remarks at a Covid review meeting with CMs even as India saw 2,47,417 new infections, the highest in 236 days.

Asking people to stay alert but avoid panic, the PM said vaccine was the best tool against all variants and it was important to fight vaccine hesitancy. He also stressed the need to strengthen home isolation to minimise burden on hospitals. —