- Wednesday, November 27, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
The Narendra Modi government has written to six Indian states, where cases of Covid-19 are particularly on the rise again, saying they should focus on controlling the sudden surge in viral infection.
Rajesh Bhushan, the country’s health secretary wrote to authorities in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka on Wednesday (15) asking them to focus on testing, treating, tracking and vaccination.
“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 letter said, according to an NDTV report.
India registered over 700 Covid-19 cases in a day after a hiatus of more than four months, taking the active caseload to excess of 4,600, data from India’s health ministry revealed on Thursday (16).
Last time the country recorded more than 700 cases was on November 12 last year.
“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,” the letter said.
The letter also advised states to assess the situation of Covid-19 at micro level and maintain focus on implementation of measures for prompt and effective management of the disease, “duly ensuring effective compliance with various advisories issued by this ministry”.
Last Saturday (11), Bhushan wrote a letter to states and union territories flagging a gradual rise in positivity rates in Covid-19 testing in some states. He called it a concerning issue and said it should be promptly addressed.
While active cases currently comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, the national Covid recovery rate has been recorded at 98.80 per cent, according to the health ministry.
