New Delhi: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has said that one of the major reasons for the surge in daily new coronavirus cases was people becoming lax towards following Covid-appropriate behaviour.
He urged them to take up the mass awareness campaigns to re-instill the importance of such measures among the masses.
The Minister, who reviewed the Covid-19 situation and progress of vaccination in Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan, said these 11 States together contributed 54 per cent of the total cases and 65 per cent of the total deaths in the country, with a disproportionately high number of deaths in Maharashtra and Punjab.
The Central government is set to launch a ‘low-cost people’s campaign (jan andolan)’ to promote Covid-19-appropriate behaviour, involving ministries, states and even celebrities, as the country records its steepest spike in cases since September, 2020.
“As you are aware, the number of cases of Covid-19 in the country is witnessing an alarming upward trend,” Information and Broadcasting Secretary Amit Khare wrote in a letter to all Central government Secretaries.