Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have written letters to Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka Adhering to the five fold strategy of Test, Track, Treat and Vaccinate.
“There are some states which are reporting a higher number of cases indicating possible local spread of the infection and need to follow a risk assessment-based approach to contain and contain the infection, in the fight against without losing the gains made so far in the pandemic,” Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to these states.
Bhushan advised the states to examine the COVID-19 situation at the micro level and focus on implementation of necessary measures for quick and effective management of the disease, ensuring effective compliance of various advisories issued by the Ministry of Health.
The past few weeks have seen a surge in cases, especially in certain parts of the country, with a total of 2,082 cases reported in the week ending March 8 and a rise to 3,264 in the week ending March 15.
Bhushan stresses on monitoring new and emerging groups of new covid-19 casecases of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) in all health facilities or through dedicated fever clinics on a regular basis to detect early warning signs of spread of infection.
He also called for genomic sequencing for scheduled samples of international travelers, collection of samples from sentinel sites (identified health facilities) and local clusters of cases, active promotion for scaling up administration of precautionary doses to all eligible beneficiaries, and especially for COVID-appropriate Emphasis was also laid on following the behavior. In closed spaces and in crowded places.
“It is necessary that the state should keep a close watch and take pre-emptive action, if necessary, in any area of concern to control the emerging spread of the infection,” Bhushan said.
He mentioned that Maharashtra has reported an increase in weekly cases from 355 in the week ending March 8 to 668 in the week ending March 15. Moreover, the state recorded a positivity rate of 1.92% in the week ending March 15, which is higher than India’s. The positivity rate during the same period was 0.61%.
The letter said that Gujarat has reported an increase in weekly cases from 105 in the week ending March 8 to 279 in the week ending March 15. Besides this, the state recorded a positivity rate of 1.11 per cent in the week ending March 15.
Telangana has reported an increase in weekly cases from 132 in the week ending March 8 to 267 in the week ending March 15. Besides this, the state has recorded a positivity rate of 0.31 per cent in the week ending March 15.
According to the letter, Tamil Nadu has reported an increase in weekly cases from 170 in the week ending March 8 to 258 in the week ending March 15. Besides this, the state has reported a positivity rate of 1.99% in the week ending March 15.
Kerala has reported an increase in weekly cases from 434 to 579 during this period. Besides this, the state recorded a positivity rate of 2.64% in the week ending March 15.
Karnataka has reported an increase in weekly cases from 493 to 604 during this period. The state recorded a positivity rate of 2.77% for the week ending March 15.
(With inputs from PTI)