NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a video conference with the chief ministers of 21 states and union territories at 3 pm on Tuesday. He will also meet with the heads of 15 worst-affected states including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Delhi on June 17th. The two-day virtual meet comes against the backdrop of an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in India after Unlock 1. Modi is staying in touch with all the heads of states and UTs and is discussing how to tackle the COVID-19 situation in the country. The last interaction with the chief ministers took place on May 17th. Currently, there are more 3.3 lakh coronavirus positive cases in the country and the death toll crossed 9,500.

The country is witnessing several relaxations; hotels, restaurants, shopping malls were allowed to open and most forms of public transportation were also allowed. The relaxations were permitted to ensure that economic activities hit by the lockdown gain momentum.

The main challenge before PM Modi and the states is to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus while also improving the economy on a faster note. On Saturday, Modi met with union ministers and top officials to review the response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The number of coronavirus cases are increasing in the national capital. Delhi has recorded 1,647 cases in the last 24 hours and the total number of cases has crossed 42,000 mark. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday. Amit Shah sketched a plan to try and contain the situation in Delhi and announced that coronavirus testing will be made available to everyone in Delhi.

Maharashtra is also one of the worst-hit states with 1.08 lakh coronavirus positive cases. Mumbai has nearly 60,000 cases and 2,248 deaths. After Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu is the second worst-affected state with 44,661 cases. The state has ordered a lockdown of capital Chennai and surrounding areas.

India is one of the world’s severely-hit nations by the novel coronavirus infection in terms of the total number of confirmed cases after the US, Brazil and Russia. In terms of the number of deaths, India is positioned at ninth after the US, Brazil, UK, Italy, France, Spain, Mexico and Belgium.