Covid-19 threat far from over, warns PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said there was no scope for complacency in the fight against Covid-19 as the threat from the pandemic was far from over.

Addressing a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers, Modi said pictures and videos of crowded places and tourists roaming about without masks or social distancing were worrisome as a single mistake could weaken the fight against Covid-19.

“This is not a pleasant sight and it should instil a sense of fear in us,” sources quoted the Prime Minister as saying while referring to photographs and videos of crowded tourist places.

The Prime Minister said there should be no space for carelessness or complacency at a time when Covid warriors and frontline workers were leading the fight against the pandemic with “full vigour”.

“A single mistake would have far-reaching impacts and weaken the fight to overcome Covid-19,” Modi was quoted as saying at the meeting of the council of ministers.

He also expressed concern about the persistently high number of cases coming from Maharashtra and Kerala.

Modi said people may want to venture out as the number of Covid-19 cases was lesser than what they were in the recent months

“However, everyone must remember – the threat of Covid-19 is far from over. Many other nations are seeing surges in infections. The virus is also mutating,” the prime minister said.

He said as ministers, their aim should not be to instil fear but to request people to keep taking all possible precautions so that the entire world is able to move beyond this pandemic in the times to come.