Ashish Ranjan
Centre writes to 6 states amid increase in Covid-19 cases: Citing a possible localized spread of the virus, the Centre on Thursday asked six states — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka — to implement a risk assessment-based approach to prevent and contain the increase in COVID-19 infections.
In a letter to these states, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan stated, “A few states have reported a higher number of cases, indicating the possibility of a localized spread of infection.”
Bhushan advised these states to investigate the situation with COVID-19 on a micro-level and maintain a focus on implementing the necessary measures for prompt and effective management of the disease, while also ensuring effective compliance with the Ministry of Health’s various advisories.Additionally | 4 Australian tourists test positive for Covid in Rajasthan; India reports 618 new infections and 5 fatalities
Instructing the states to maintain a vigilant vigil, he reported that the number of COVID-19 cases in India has declined significantly over the past few months.Nonetheless, a rise in cases has been observed in certain regions of the country over the past few weeks, with 2,082 cases reported in the week ending March 8 and 3,264 cases reported in the week ending March 15.
Bhushan wrote, “It is necessary to follow a risk assessment-based strategy to prevent and contain the infection without losing the progress made in the fight against the pandemic.”
He emphasized the importance of routinely monitoring new and emerging clusters of new COVID-19 cases, influenza-like illness (ILI), and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases in all health facilities or through specialized fever clinics to detect early warning signals of the spread of infection.
He also stressed on genomic sequencing for prescribed samples of international passengers, collection of samples from sentinel sites (identified health facilities), and local clusters of cases, proactive promotion to increase administration of precaution dose for all eligible beneficiaries and following Covid-appropriate behaviour particularly in enclosed spaces and in crowded spaces.
Bhushan stated, “It is imperative that the state maintain a vigilant vigilance and, if necessary, take preventative measures in any areas of concern to prevent the spread of new infections.”
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The number of weekly cases in Maharashtra increased from 355 in the week ending March 8 to 668 in the week ending March 15. In addition, the state reported a positivity rate of 1.92 percent for the week ending March 15, which was greater than India’s positivity rate of 0.61 percent for the same period.
