On a day when Karnataka reported 25,005 new coronavirus infections and eight deaths, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appreciated the state’s “5T plan” to contain the pandemic—testing, tracking, tracing, triaging and technology.
Along with 2,363 recoveries, the active case count stood at 1,15,733 on Thursday, while total deaths were 38,397.
Bommai, who participated in a virtual meeting held by Prime Minister Modi with chief ministers, said in a press statement, “I explained the measures taken by the state government to control and manage Covid. The prime minister appreciated the high rate of testing and vaccination in the state, which is higher than the national average.”
The prime minister was also apprised about measures initiated to ramp up the medical infrastructure in the state. “I sought central assistance to raise the number of oxygen beds and oxygen plants,” he added.
He said Modi had also instructed state governments to make all the preparations based on the experience of the first and second waves of Covid as the pandemic was expected to peak in February.
As over 94 per cent of infected people in the current wave are in home isolation, Modi wanted the states to give top priority to ensuring the supply of medicines, appropriate care, and measures to instil confidence among the infected, Bommai said.
Under a Rs32,000-crore package provided by the Union government, the statement said, the state governments have been asked to scale up ambulance facilities and Covid tests as well.