The Centre has issued an advisory to six states cautioning them over
rising Covid cases. The Union health and family welfare ministry has written letters to Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka to follow a five-fold strategy of test, track, treat and vaccinations. “There are few states which are reporting higher number of cases indicating possible localised spread of infection and there is a need to follow a risk assessment-based approach to prevent & contain the infection, without losing the gains made so far in the fight against the pandemic,”
Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in the letter to these states.
Bhushan advised the states to examine the situation of
Covid-19 at micro-level and maintain focus on implementation of necessary measures for prompt and effective management of the disease, duly ensuring effective compliance with various advisories issued by the Ministry of Health. Since the past few weeks a
rise in cases has been noted specifically in certain parts of the country with a total of
2,082 cases being reported in the week ending March 8 and the figure rising to 3,264 cases in the week ending March 15. Bhushan stressed on 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 dedicated fever clinics on a regular basis for detecting early warning signals of the spread of infection. He also stressed on ge-
nomic 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 alleligible beneficiaries and following Covid-appropriate behaviour particularly in enclosed spaces and in
crowded spaces. “It is essential that the state must maintain a strict watch and take preemptive action if required in any areas of concern to control emerg- ing spread of 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. Further, the state reported a positivity rate of 1.92% in the week ending March 15 which is higher
than India’s positivity rate of 0.61% during the same period. Gujarat has reported an increase in weekly cases from 105 in the week ending March 8 to 279 in the week ending
March 15, the letter stated. Further, the state re-ported 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 week ending March 15. Further, the state reported 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. Further, the state 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 the period. Further, the state reported 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 the period. The state reported a positivity rate of 2.77% in the week ending March 15.
