The Union Health Minister, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, chaired a high-level meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in India.

The preparedness of the public health system was also assessed, including key points such as:

The Union Health Minister stressed the need to be alert and prepared against new and emerging strains of COVID-19, especially considering the upcoming festive season.

He urged states to ramp up testing and refer samples of COVID-19-positive cases to INSACOG labs for genome sequencing to track new variants.

Following the meeting, the officials have been asked to undertake mock drills every three months at the central and state levels.

This will be done to assess the functionality of medical equipment and oxygen supplies.

States are urged to create awareness, manage infodemic, and ensure dissemination of factually correct information.