The government has asked the 10 worst affected states to implement specific public communication campaigns to control the coronavirus pandemic, as deaths crossed the 90,000 mark nationally and cases rose to 5.66 million on Wednesday.
These states together account for 76% of all reported COVID-19 cases and 83% of the 1,085 reported deaths in the last 24 hours. They were asked to implement specific public communication campaigns at the grassroots level to encourage “appropriate covid behavior” by residents of the worst affected districts.
The 10 states with the highest number of active cases are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Kerala, Telangana, and Delhi.
The focus of the targeted communication campaign will be behavior change and educating people on how to live with covid 19 in the unlock phase.
Within Maharashtra, the districts of Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Sangli and Kolhapur have been identified for intense covid communication, the Center said in a statement.
See full image
Based on expert interactions, the health ministry has identified key communication indicators that cover appropriate covid behavior such as hand hygiene, use of masks and safe distancing, destigmatization of diseases, dos and don’ts in the home isolation and warning against self-medication. .
To facilitate the implementation of the strategy, district administrations have been asked to set up communication management teams under the supervision of the district collector.
Print and electronic media, including FM and community radio, social media, outdoor media, and popular media, would be used to carry the message home.
The national positivity rate was 8.52% and tests per million stood at 48,028 on Wednesday. A total of 83,347 new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours.
.
