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New Delhi: Considering the potential threat that the new COVID-19 variant may pose to the nation, the Center has asked all states and union territories to conduct intensive containment, proactive surveillance, enhanced testing, surveillance of hotspots, increased coverage of vaccinations And asked to focus on growth. health infrastructure.
Listing out a series of measures to be taken by the states and union territories, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan also stressed on stricter surveillance of international travellers, ensuring speedy dispatch of samples for genome sequencing and the version of this concern. Strictly enforcing COVID-appropriate practices (VOCs) to manage them effectively.
As a proactive step, the government has already placed countries, where this VOC is found, in the category of ‘at risk’ countries for additional follow-up measures of international travelers arriving in India from these destinations, they dated. Said in a letter. 27 November.
“Given the potential threat that this VOC can pose to the nation, it is imperative that intensive containment, proactive surveillance, increased coverage of vaccinations and very proactive methods to effectively manage Covid-appropriate behavior are warranted. to be applied in the area. This VOC,” Bhushan said.
The Health Secretary said that it is essential that the disease surveillance network in the country is ready for rigorous follow-up of international travelers from all countries, especially those designated as ‘at risk’.
There is already a reporting mechanism for getting past travel details of passengers arriving via international flights, he said, this should be reviewed and the protocols provided by the ministry should be strictly ensured, which include ‘risk Involves testing on disembarkation of passengers arriving from ‘in’. Countries and sending all positive samples to INSACOG laboratories in an expedited manner for genome sequencing.
Emphasizing on the need to operate adequate testing infrastructure to deal with any surge due to this mutated virus, Bhushan said that it has been observed that in some states the proportion of RT-PCR tests along with the overall testing has declined.
“In the absence of adequate testing, it is extremely difficult to determine the exact level of infection spread. States should strengthen the testing infrastructure and strictly implement the testing guidelines,” he said.
Bhushan also stressed on continuous monitoring of hotspots, areas where cluster of positive cases have emerged recently.
“All such ‘hotspots’, expeditious dispatch of positive samples to designated INSACOG laboratories for saturation testing and genome sequencing should be ensured in collaboration with Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India and National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) .. States should closely monitor the emerging trend of cases and positivity in an area and delineate the hotspots quickly for effective containment of COVID-19,” he said.
The Health Secretary said that the states should aim to achieve a positivity rate of less than 5 per cent, focusing on increasing the number of RT-PCR tests and the number of RT-PCR tests to aid in early detection.
“Adequate availability of health facilities across the state is essential to ensure that there is no delay in providing care,” he said, adding that trained human resources, infrastructure, logistics and procurement should be planned and implemented. should be strengthened. pandemic, and there will be no compromise in providing prompt, quality treatment to patients.
Bhushan urged the states to make better use of the financial assistance provided by the Government of India under ERCP 1 and 2.
INSACOG has been set up to monitor the circulating variants in the country, he said, adding that it is important to underline that states should sample from the general population for genome sequencing by sending these samples to the INSACOG lab network as per the policy.
He also urged the states and union territories to hold regular press conferences.
“We have seen in the past boom in the country that the discourse on COVID is often fueled by misinformation causing public concern. To address this, all states must continuously and regularly address the concerns of the community by providing evidence-based information through press briefings and state bulletins,” Bhushan said in the letter.
States should also ensure that the community is well informed about the measures taken and is advised to follow measures such as COVID-appropriate behavior and vaccination.
He said it is important for the States and UTs to follow the ‘Test-Track-Treat Vaccine and COVID-Appropriate Practices’ principle to ensure stringent implementation of containment measures as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). .
“I am sure that under your continued leadership we will be able to maintain the momentum and build on the progress made so far to address the latest threat of the pandemic. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare assures all necessary assistance to the states and union territories,” Bhushan said.
The new, potentially more infectious variant B.1.1.1.529 was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from South Africa on 24 November and has also been identified in Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel.
It was designated a “version of concern” by the WHO on Friday, which named it Omicron. One variant of concern is the WHO’s top category of worrying COVID-19 variants.
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