Describing state and district officials as ''field commanders'' in the fight against COVID-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said localised containment zones, aggressive testing and sharing correct and complete information with people are weapons to defeat the pandemic. Interacting with them at a meeting, which was attended by district magistrates from 46 districts across nine states, through video-conferencing, Modi said they were free to innovate to suit their local requirements and asked them to share their feedback about any change in policy without any inhibition.

Asserting that vaccination is a strong way to fight COVID, Modi said myths about it have to be collectively rooted out. He added that continuous efforts are being made to ramp up COVID vaccine supply in a big way, asserting that attempts are on to provide states 15-day advance schedule of the programme as it will allow them to prepare accordingly. Testing, tracking, treatment and COVID appropriate behaviour are some of the key things required to check the spread of the virus, Modi said.

Hailing officials, the prime minister said many of them worked despite being COVID positive while some lost their family members but they gave duty foremost priority.

He said a lot of attention has to be paid to rural and remote areas during the second wave of the pandemic. Several chief ministers besides Home Minister Amit Shah also attended the meeting.