According to the meeting, Maharashtra, Punjab and Chhattisgarh were among the 11 states that were classified as “states of serious concern” due to the high and growing number of daily cases and the highest number of daily deaths. These have contributed 90% of COVID cases (as of March 31) and 90.5% of deaths (as of March 31) in the past 14 days, the ministry said in a statement.
All 11 states have crossed / or are close to crossing their reported peaks early in the past year. “The situation is particularly worrying in Maharashtra. They were advised to take immediate and highly effective measures to ensure the containment of active cases and daily deaths,” added the Ministry of Health.
“They were recommended to take immediate and highly effective measures to ensure the containment of Active Cases and Daily Deaths through compliance with the standard Clinical Management Protocol previously shared with all states and UT,” the statement said.
Taking note of the current situation due to the continuous deterioration of the COVID scenario during the fortnight, the Cabinet Secretary pointed out that the current growth rate of the COVID case of 6.8% in March 2021 has exceeded the previous record of 5.5% (June 2020). The country also reported a 5.5% growth rate in daily COVID deaths in this period. “While the country was reporting around 97,000 new daily COVID cases at the peak of the pandemic in September 2020, the country has now reached the critical 81,000 new daily COVID cases,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, the Union Health Secretary highlighted the current COVID trajectory in the states, while the Union Secretary (I&B) showed effective behavior change communication ways to instill appropriate COVID behavior among the population.
At the meeting, senior government health official and member of Niti Aayog, Dr. VK Paul emphasized the need for States to follow a protocol to share clinical and epidemiological data for a more detailed study of the mutant strain of the virus for genome sequencing. The Union Secretary of the Interior noted that the 11 states and UT that are showing an increase in daily COVID cases have not shown a commensurate increase in the enforcement of containment activities. According to the statement, he urged state authorities to take the appropriate strict measures in this regard.
In addition, another worrying aspect noted was that Level 2 and Level 3 cities along with peri-urban areas have registered the recent high ruses in COVID cases; The spread of the infection from these areas to rural areas with a weak health infrastructure that would overwhelm the local administration was also highlighted.
After a detailed and exhaustive review of the measures taken by the States / UTs, the Cabinet Secretary reiterated the need for a meticulous and arduous work regarding the strict application of containment and surveillance measures, together with the intensification of the vaccination and the strict application of the Appropriate Behavior of COVID. States were specifically asked to:
-Increase testing continuously to ensure positivity drops to 5% or less than 5%
-Focus on ensuring that RT-PCR tests comprise 70% of total tests
-Reduce wait time for test results with regular review with test labs
-Use Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) as a screening test in densely populated areas and where new groups are emerging.
-All symptomatic RAT negatives must be subjected to RT-PCR tests.
-Ensure the effective and rapid isolation of those infected in institutional facilities (Covid Care Centers). Make sure patients isolated at home are monitored daily. Isolated infected persons should be transferred immediately to health centers, if necessary.
-Be sure to track 25 to 30 close contacts for each infected person. Tracing of close contacts and their isolation will take place within 72 hours. Further testing and follow-up will be done on all close contacts.
-Configuration of Containment Zones / Micro Containment Zones to break the chain of transmission.
States were also asked to examine the fatality rate in the hospital setting, develop an appropriate strategy, and mitigate concerns about late admission to hospitals and non-compliance with the National Protocol for Clinical Management. The need to formulate district action plans with a focus on case mapping, neighborhood / block indicator review, 24 * 7 emergency operations center, incident command system (area specific rapid response team and the timely exchange of information.
In order to minimize daily deaths, the States were advised on the strengthening of public and private health resources. They were specifically asked to:
-Increase the number of isolation beds, oxygen beds, ventilators / ICU beds as per requirement.
-Plan an adequate oxygen supply.
-Strengthen the ambulance service and reduce the response time and rejection rate with regular monitoring by the local administration.
-Ensuring an adequate number of contracted personnel and an optimal list of functions.
-Planning the regular teleconsultation of ICU doctors in the districts with AIIMS, New Delhi Core Team or State Core Team. AIIMS, New Delhi, conducts teleconsultation twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays.
-The strict application of the Appropriate Behavior (CAB) of COVID was reiterated. The following were highlighted for immediate compliance by States / UT:
-Use of the Police Law, the Disaster Management Law and other legal / administrative provisions to impose sanctions on defaulters.
-Use of local officials, political, cultural, sports, religious influencers to disseminate information appropriate to the use of masks and maintaining physical distance.
-Focus on markets, fairs / melas, social and religious congregations that could become popular events.
-Awareness should be raised that CAB is equally important as vaccination, and this should be followed even after vaccination.
-The message of ‘Dawai Bhi, Kadai Bhi’ to be disseminated effectively and profusely through multimedia and multilateral platforms.
In order to saturate vaccination for priority age groups in districts reporting a surge in daily COVID cases, the following were recommended to states and UT:
-A time-bound plan of 100% vaccination will be developed for eligible healthcare workers, frontline workers, and eligible age groups.
-Coordination with the Union Ministry of Health to ensure adequate doses of vaccine. It was highlighted that there is no shortage of vaccines with States and UT; the Center will continually replenish the requirement of the States and UT.
-Daily review of consumption of each Point of the Cold Chain at the State level, for the required reappropriation.
“The Cabinet Secretary urged the Chief Secretaries to encourage the state administration and to use all the resources at their disposal to address the recent increase in COVID cases. The need to expand efforts to departments other than the Department of Health through of a “Whole Government” The focus was re-emphasized in today’s meeting. It was emphasized that the Center continues to provide all resources and support to all states and UT for public health measures and clinical management to combat the COVID-19, “the MoHFW stated.
Meanwhile, 81,466 more people tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the number of accumulated cases in the country to 1,23,03,131, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.
This is the largest increase in daily new infections the country has reported in the past six months. Almost 81,000 cases were reported on October 1 of last year.
In addition to this, 469 more people succumbed to the disease nationwide, the highest in around four months. The country had last seen 482 deaths on December 5, 2020.
The cumulative death toll from Covid-19 in India is 1.63,396.
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