Examine situation at micro level, Centre to six states reporting rising Covid cases
Darpan News Desk IANS, 16 Mar, 2023 10:18 AM
New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) The Union Health Ministry on Thursday wrote to six states - Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, which have reported significant rise in the Covid cases in last week - to examine the Covid 19 situation at the micro level.
"India has observed a significant decline in the number of Covid-19 cases during past few months. However, since past few weeks, a rise in cases has been noted specifically in certain parts of the country with a total of 2,082 cases reported in the week ending March 8, 2023 which rose to 3,264 cases in week ending March 15," Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in the letter to the states.
He said that 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.
The Health Ministry has advised that state should examine the situation of Covid-19 at micro level (district & sub-districts) and maintain focus on implementation of necessary measures for prompt and effective management of Covid-19 duly ensuring effective compliance with various advisories issued by the Ministry.
The five-fold strategy, i.e., Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination should be followed with continued focus on adequate & proactive testing as per guidelines, reads the letter. The states have been asked to monitor new and emerging clusters of new Covid-19 cases and also Influenza-like illness (ILI) & SARI cases in all health facilities.
"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 letter.
The Centre on Thursday told all the states and Union Territories to be cautious about international passengers travelling from or through Botswana, South Africa and Hong Kong in view of a new Covid variant detected in South Africa.
According to the officer, an information was received by the special staff team in Shahdara district that a fake call centre was being run near Vishwas Nagar. Subsequently, a police team was constituted to obtain all the relevant details of the persons who were cheated by the accused.
The study was conducted by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research (CSIR) and the National Centre for Disease Control in two Delhi hospitals.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday urged the Punjab government not to make 1,000 guest faculty assistant professors unemployed as they have been handling the education system in government colleges for years.
The police have recovered two Chinese made P-86 hand grenades and two pistols along with cartridges, besides a black Royal Enfield motorcycle from his possession, said Director General of Police Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota here.
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently announced the repeal of three controversial farm laws after a year of protests. Thousands of farmers are still camping at Delhi's borders and several died from heat, cold and Covid.
