Prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday turned emotional while virtually interacting with doctors and health workers of his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi as he paid tribute to those who had lost their lives while battling Covid 19.
''This virus has snatched many of our near and dear ones...I pay my tribute to all of them,'' Modi said.
Terming the 'Black fungus' as the new challenge, Modi said that the government was battling on several fronts at the same time in the second wave of coronavirus.
''This time the infection rate is many times more than the previous one...the patients required longer hospitalisation and as a result there is pressure on the health system,'' the prime minister said.
''Improvement in the health infrastructure in the past seven years was able to withstand the pressure to some extent but the situation was extraordinary,'' he added.
Lauding the success achieved in controlling the Covid 19 infections in Varanasi, Modi asked the health workers and doctors to now focus on the villages in the eastern UP region.
He stressed the need to follow the mantra 'jahan bimar, wahin upchar' (treating the sick on the spot) even as he asked the health workers to take every step to keep the children safe.
Doctors from different hospitals and around one hundred health workers took part in the virtual interaction with the prime minister.
(Published 21 May 2021, 11:39 IST)
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