<span style="color: #222222;">The 18th meeting of the high-level Group of Ministers, GoM on COVID-19 was held in New Delhi through video conferencing under the chairpersonship of Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan. </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The GoM was briefed on the current status of COVID-19 in India. The global comparison between the five most affected countries clearly depicted that India has one of the lowest cases per million which is 538 and deaths per million which is 15 compared the global average of 1453 and 68.7.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Within the country, eight states Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat contribute to around 90 per cent of the active caseload and 49 districts account for 80 per cent of active caseload, as of today.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Moreover, six states Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal account for 86 per cent of total deaths, and 32 districts account for 80 per cent deaths.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that as we move forward, the focus shall be on the management of COVID-19 through strict containment measures and surveillance; utilizing full testing capacity and focus on monitoring of co-morbid and elderly population. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">He pointed out that the aim is to reduce the Case Fatality Rate low by early identification and effective clinical management.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Director of National Centre for Disease Control Dr Sujeet K Singh presented a detailed report on surveillance efforts undertaken in India during the pandemic.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">In a detailed presentation, Chairman of Empowered Group-8 on Information, Communication and Public Awareness,Amit Khare briefed the GoM on the key steps taken in Communication of Information and in raising public awareness.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Dr Harsh Vardhan was joined by External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep S. Puri, Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Shipping and Chemical and Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya, Member Health in NITI Aayog Dr. Vinod Paul joined the meeting through video conference link.</span><br />''