Keep close watch on district-level Covid clusters: Govt to states | India News – Rashtra News : Rashtra News
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NEW DELHI: The Centre has asked states and UTs to strictly monitor and implement measures at district level clusters of new Covid-19 cases, with a particular focus on areas reporting more than 10% positivity rate or over 60% bed occupancy on either oxygen support or ICU.
The health ministry has also raised concern over districts with high positivity rate in three states – Mizoram, Kerala and Sikkim. The three states have eight districts reporting more than 10% positivity.
Besides, 19 districts in Kerala, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Manipur, West Bengal and Nagaland have been reporting positivity rates between five and 10% in the last two weeks. “Thus, these 27 districts need to be monitored very closely,” health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to states and UTs on Saturday.
“In case of any district reporting a surge in cases, or rise in positivity rates, intensive action and local containment as per the containment framework must be initiated,” Bhushan said. The Centre suggested specific containment measures to ensure there is no sudden surge in cases and healthcare systems are not burdened. The government maintains that at present the health systems are not burdened due to Omicron. However, there are clusters where cases are increasing rapidly. While Delta continues to be the dominant variant, the Centre has stressed on states to continue genome sequencing of positive samples.
“The strategic containment interventions in identified areas with test positivity rate of over 10 per cent or over 60 per cent bed occupancy on either two oxygen-supported or ICU beds, include night curfews, restricting intermingling of people, prohibition of congregations (social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious, festival-related), curtailment of attendees in marriages and funerals or last rites, etc,” Bhushan said.
Testing and surveillance interventions include ramping up testing and active case search, testing of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases through rapid antigen tests (RAT) and re-testing by RT-PCR of symptomatic RAT negative tests.
The health ministry has also raised concern over districts with high positivity rate in three states – Mizoram, Kerala and Sikkim. The three states have eight districts reporting more than 10% positivity.
Besides, 19 districts in Kerala, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Manipur, West Bengal and Nagaland have been reporting positivity rates between five and 10% in the last two weeks. “Thus, these 27 districts need to be monitored very closely,” health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to states and UTs on Saturday.
“In case of any district reporting a surge in cases, or rise in positivity rates, intensive action and local containment as per the containment framework must be initiated,” Bhushan said. The Centre suggested specific containment measures to ensure there is no sudden surge in cases and healthcare systems are not burdened. The government maintains that at present the health systems are not burdened due to Omicron. However, there are clusters where cases are increasing rapidly. While Delta continues to be the dominant variant, the Centre has stressed on states to continue genome sequencing of positive samples.
“The strategic containment interventions in identified areas with test positivity rate of over 10 per cent or over 60 per cent bed occupancy on either two oxygen-supported or ICU beds, include night curfews, restricting intermingling of people, prohibition of congregations (social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious, festival-related), curtailment of attendees in marriages and funerals or last rites, etc,” Bhushan said.
Testing and surveillance interventions include ramping up testing and active case search, testing of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases through rapid antigen tests (RAT) and re-testing by RT-PCR of symptomatic RAT negative tests.
( News Source :Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Rashtra News staff and is published from a timesofindia.indiatimes.com feed.)
