Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu on Saturday called for strict adherence to the Covid-19 protocol and urged all eligible people to get vaccinated.

He convened two virtual meetings with MLAs and corporators, councillors and zilla parishad members to review the Covid-19 situation. The meetings, conceptualised and chaired by governor Brig (Rtd) B D Mishra, laid special focus on five districts — Lower Dibang Valley, Papum Pare, Namsai, East Siang and West Kameng — that have recently witnessed a spike in new cases.

He assured people that the vaccines provided by the government are safe and effective.

“We have vaccinated around 1.35 lakh people so far but cases are increasing rapidly and elected representatives must encourage more people to get vaccinated besides creating awareness on safety protocols,” Khandu said.

He also called for ramping up testing and tracking cases and treating them.

Khandu said that the health Department will notify guidelines by Monday to combat the second wave of Covid-19. Vigil has to be heightened at all entry points to the state and everyone entering has to be mandatorily tested, he said.

Several elected representatives urged the state government to reduce the rates of RT-PCR and RAT.

Health minister Alo Libang sought everyone’s cooperation in containing the spread of Covid-19.

Allaying peoples concerns about army movement in the state, the governor said he has spoken to the Eastern Army commander in Kolkata who has assured him that 97-99 per cent of the jawans have been vaccinated and anyone showing Covid symptoms is being treated before being sent to forward posts.