Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday appreciated the district
and state officials on their efforts in battling COVID-19, terming them ‘field
commanders’ in the process, reported news agency ANI.

“You all are playing a very important role in the battle
against COVID. In a way, you are the field commanders of this battle”, ANI quoted
Modi as saying.

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In a meeting with the officials, the Prime Minister further
said he was “astonished” while looking at the level of social distancing
maintained in the rural areas during the first wave.

“Last time, we didn’t shut the farming sector. I was
astonished to see how villagers were maintaining social distancing in the
fields. Villages grasp the information and modify it according to their needs.
This is the strength of villages”, he was quoted as saying.

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Modi also pointed towards COVID-19 appropriate processes
such as establishing local containment zones and aggressive testing as “weapons” against the virus.

“In the battle against this virus, our weapons are local
containment zone, aggressive testing and sending correct and complete
information to the people”, Modi was further quoted as saying.

He stated that the country was in a fight “to save every single life”.

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India’s rapidly rising daily COVID-19 numbers have been
witnessing a drop in recent days, as the country recorded a total of 263,533
COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, a significant reduction from 281,386 cases the
previous day and 311,170 cases the day before that.

In a worrisome manner, however, daily number of deaths have
steadily risen over the last 48 hours, from 4,077 on Sunday to 4,106 on Monday
and 4,329 on Tuesday.