As Covid cases spike, Centre asks these six states to keep a strict vigil

As India recorded a rise in daily coronavirus Covid-19 cases, the Union government asked the six most-affected states to follow a risk assessment-based approach to prevent and contain the spread of virus, citing a possible localised spread of the virus.

“There are a few states which are reporting higher numbers of cases indicating possible localised spread of infection,” Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.

Bhushan advised these 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.

While India, he noted, has observed a significant decline in the number of Covid-19 cases during the past few months, a fresh spike has been witnessed in certain parts of the country.

The top health official stressed the need to monitor emerging clusters of new Covid-19 cases, influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases in all health facilities. Bhushan also advised that monitoring can be done through dedicated fever clinics on a regular basis for detecting 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.

“It is essential that the state must maintain a strict watch and take pre-emptive action if required in any areas of concern to control emerging spread of infection,” Bhushan said.

In the week ending March 15, Maharashtra reported an increase in weekly cases to 668 from 355 the previous week, with the state reporting a positivity rate of 1.92 per cent. Gujarat, he said, reported a positivity rate of 1.11 per cent in the week ending March 15, with 279 fresh cases.

Telangana reported a rise from 132 Covid cases in the week ending March 8 to 267 in the week ending March 15, while Tamil Nadu reported an increase from 170 to 258 cases in the respective weeks, according to the letter.

Kerala and Karnataka reported a positivity rate of 2.64 per cent and 2.77 per cent respectively in the week ending March 15.