New Delhi, Sep 23 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday raised a red flag about 60 districts of the country spread across seven states, as far as their handling of the current pandemic is concerned.

The PM emphasised upon the need for better communication and staying alert against those spreading rumours.

"There are more than 700 districts in the country. However, only 60 districts in 7 states are a cause of worry," said the Prime Minister.

He suggested the Chief Ministers present in Wednesday's virtual meet to hold a virtual conference with people at the district or the block level for 7 days. "We have to learn from best practices from across states," he added.

Highlighting the importance of communication amid the pandemic, Modi said effective messaging becomes all the more essential because most Covid-19 infections are asymptomatic. "In such a situation, rumours may rise. It might create doubts in people's minds that testing is bad," He said, he also warned against scenarios in which because of lack of communication, people may commit the mistake of underestimating the severity of infection.

Continuing with his thrust on testing and contact-tracing, PM Modi reiterated, "We have to increase our focus on effective testing, tracing, treatment, surveillance as well as clear messaging."

He added that states need to work together to see that the supply of life-saving medicines reach from one state to another easily.

Prime Minister Modi chaired a high-level virtual meeting with Chief Ministers & Health Ministers of 7 states and Union territories with high COVID numbers. These states and UTs include Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Punjab.

These account for 65.5 per cent of the total confirmed cases and 77 per cent of the total deaths in India, a statement had said earlier.