New Delhi: As India gears up to combat the third wave, PM Modi expressed grief over several videos that have emerged from popular hill stations in North India featuring amassed violation of COVID-19 protocols by not wearing masks.
Addressing a virtual meeting of chief ministers from the eight north-eastern states, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of adhering to basic rules and endorsing COVID behaviour to prevent the advent of the third wave.
“It is true that tourism, business and business have been greatly affected due to coronavirus… but today I will say very emphatically that it is not okay to have huge crowds in hill stations and markets without wearing masks,” Prime Minister Modi said. “The virus does not come and go on its own… we bring it with us when we disobey the rules. Experts are warning us repeatedly that careless behaviour – like overcrowding – will lead to an increase in Covid cases,” he further said.
He expressed concern over the rising cases flagging the north-eastern states ‘worrisome districts’. As per the data released by the centre last week , 47 of India’s 73 districts with a positivity rate of over 10 per cent were from the northeast. PM Modi dictated microlevel mitigations to be initiated to check the spread of the virus.