Interacting with the chief ministers of several states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday warned that the “Covid challenge” has not yet been surpassed. “Despite managing the Covid crisis well as compared to other countries, we can see an uptick in cases in states now. We have to stay alert,” Modi said. He added that administering vaccine to every eligible child at the earliest is our priority, while stressing the need to ensure Covid-appropriate behaviour in public places.

The review meeting was attended by several chief ministers including West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, Chhattisgarh’s Bhupesh Baghel and Punjab’s Bhagwant Mann.

India reported 2,927 new coronavirus cases — up from the previous day’s 2,483  — as of 8 am Wednesday, according to the Union Health Ministry. The active cases in India climbed to 16,279 from 15,636. The country also reported 32 deaths in the last 24 hours. During the interaction, Prime Narendra Modi emphasised that priority in the new phase of pandemic should be to vaccinate all the eligible children population — directing the states to run special vaccination campaigns needs to be implemented, especially in the backdrop of children returning to the schools after a long break. View More…