People are becoming far too complacent while the administrations in most states have also become relaxed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday as he stressed on the need to “work on a war footing to fight” COVID-19. PM Modi chaired a meeting with a number of chief ministers to discuss the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, where he said that “a challenging situation is emerging again”. 

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Here are some highlights from his address:

• “We need to fight the second surge in cases. Many states including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Punjab have crossed first wave of peak in COVID-19 cases. This is a serious concern. People have become complacent. In most states, the administration has also become relaxed,” ANI quoted the Prime Minister as saying.

• PM Modi said that the the country now has better resources and is more experienced at handling the pandemic, adding that testing, tracking, treating and COVID-appropriate behaviour will help flatten the infection peak. 

• Saying that containing the human host is the way to contain the virus, PM Modi called for widening of testing in the country, and advised the chief ministers to focus on micro-containment zones and imposing “corona-curfews”. 

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• “In places where night curfew has been imposed, I would urge to use the word ‘Corona Curfew’, to continue alertness about coronavirus. It will be better to start curfew timing from 9 pm or 10 pm till 5 am or 6 am,” he said. 

• He also asked the chief ministers to ensure positivity rates in their respective states remains below 5%, while also stressing on the need to keep the mortality rate as low as possible. 

• In order to boost the vaccination drive, the Prime Minister also called for a ‘Tika Utsav’ to be observed from April 11 to 14, when jabs will be administered to as many eligible people as possible.
• PM Modi said that we won the first fight against COVID-19 without a vaccine and that our focus has shifted from testing to vaccinating. “Once again we need to raise awareness about the importance of wearing a mask and following COVID19 safety protocols,” he said. 
• He also called for everyone to work together to beat the pandemic, instead of indulging in politics. “Those who want to do politics may do so, I don’t want to speak on this; We should work together to win over the pandemic,” he said.

126,789 new COVID-19 cases were recorded across the country over the past 24 hours on Thursday, taking the total caseload to 12,928,574. 685 new virus-related deaths in the same period pushed that tally to 166,862.