The states which showed a surge in new daily COVID-19 cases and high active caseload have been urged to return to the fundamentals of “Test, Track and Treat”, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.
According to the ministry, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and UTs of Delhi and Chandigarh have in the recent past seen increased positivity and increased number of daily positive cases.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan NITI Aayog member (health) Vinod K. Paul held a meeting with health secretaries and MDs (NHM) of these states and reviewed the ongoing public health measures of surveillance, containment and management of COVID cases.
“In a detailed presentation, it was pointed out that nine districts in Delhi, 15 in Haryana, 10 in Andhra Pradesh, 10 in Odisha, nine in Himachal Pradesh, seven in Uttarakhand, two in Goa, one in Chandigarh continue to be of concern as these districts are seeing a decrease in total tests being conducted, low share of RT-PCR tests, increase in weekly positivity and low number of contact tracing of the COVID positive cases,” the ministry said in a statement.
These states have been urged to continue with the effective strategy of “Test Track and Treat” that had yielded rich dividends at the height of the pandemic, and improve overall testing in districts reporting reduction in testing.
The ministry said that the share of RT-PCR tests in districts dependent on high levels of antigen testing should be increased, while calling for carrying out an average close contact tracing of minimum of 20 persons per positive case.
Refocusing on surveillance and stringent containment of those areas in selected districts which are seeing cluster of cases, focusing on clinical management in districts reporting higher deaths, actuating their health infrastructure to provide effective clinical management to all the patients are some of the other recommendations the Centre has given to states with high caseload.
These states have also been directed to accelerate vaccination for priority population groups in districts reporting higher cases and make optimal use of the available vaccine doses and focus on critical districts.
The states should collaborate with the private hospitals to open up vaccination time-table for a minimum of 15 days and maximum of 28 days at a time.
During the meeting, the stress was laid on prompt isolation and on medical supervision of those active cases presently in home isolation for early identification of progressive deterioration of the disease, said the ministry. The States were also asked actively watch out for super-spreading events and share their best practices in breaking the chain of transmission.
