Covid-19 Crisis: PM Holds Meet with Ministers, Says Need to Hike Testing & Number of Hospital Beds

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday reviewed the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic with senior ministers and top bureaucrats.

He took stock of the pandemic situation in different states and union territories, including Delhi, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

During the meet, it was observed that two-thirds of India's COVID-19 infection load are in five states with an overwhelming proportion of cases in big cities, the statement said.

"The meeting also took stock of the situation in different states and UTs including Delhi. It was attended by the Home Minister, Health Minister, Principal Secretary to PM, Cabinet Secretary, Health Secretary, DG ICMR and other related conveyance of the Empowered Groups," said the PMO in a statement. "In view of the challenges being faced, particularly by the large cities, it was discussed to augment testing as well as the number of beds and services to effectively handle the peak surge of daily cases."

Ten days after recording two lakh COVID-19 cases, India surpassed the three lakh-mark on Saturday with the worst daily spike of 11,458 infections, while the death toll too climbed to 8,884 with 386 new fatalities, the Union Health Ministry said. In Delhi, the number of infections stood at 36,824.