Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hailed healthcare and social sector workers for their contribution in the fight against the Coronavirus outbreak saying those “foot soldiers” have helped India quash grim predictions of the pandemic.

On Monday, PM Modi launched three high-tech COVID-19 testing facilities at Noida, Mumbai, and Kolkata via video conference. Speaking at the event, he said: “There was a challenge of building the human resource to fight Coronavirus. It is astonishing the way paramedics, ANMs, ASHA Anganwadi workers, and other health and civil workers were trained in such a short time. Today if the world is astonished to see the way India is fighting the pandemic and grim predictions proven wrong, then one of the big reasons is our foot soldiers.”

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‘India in much better state compared to other nations’

PM Modi said that the newly launched testing facilities in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra would be able to conduct 10,000 additional tests. According to him, these facilities would also be used for testing Hepatitis B and C, HIV and dengue. He thanked the Indian Council of Medical Research and other organizations for setting up these facilities.

The PM contended that India was in a much better state compared to other nations in the fight against the novel coronavirus because of correct decisions being taken at the correct time. To buttress his point, he cited the country’s low number of COVID-19 deaths and a high recovery rate. PM Modi mentioned that the number of recovered patients would soon reach 10 lakh. He also spoke about the boost accorded to the healthcare sector due to the Rs.15,000 crore package announced by the Centre.

The new facilities

The three facilities have been set up strategically at the ICMR-National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research, Noida, ICMR-National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai; and ICMR-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata. These labs shall reduce turn-around-time and exposure of lab personnel to infectious clinical materials. During the launch ceremony, Union Health Minister Dr.Harsh Vardhan, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath were also present. 

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