To control fast spread of virus Centre asks State Govt to focus on 6 points
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 07 2021: Concerned over the high positivity rate and increase in death rate in some districts, the Secretary of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Rajesh Bhusan has intimated Chief Secretary Dr Rajesh Kumar to focus on 6 important aspects to curb the spread of the virus.

In a letter to letter addressed to State's Chief Secretary, the Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare noted that positivity rate of more than 10 percent in about 8 out of the 16 districts is a matter of grave concern.

The Secretary also took note of the increase in the number of deaths in the last four weeks (June 13 to July 4) in Bishnupur and continuous high death rate in Imphal East and Imphal West and stressed on the need for a critical analysis.

In view of the increase in positivity rate and number of deaths and to ensure the situation does not slip out of control, Rajesh Bhusan asked the Chief Secretary to enforce strict containment measures, ramp up testing, augment healthcare infrastructure, follow clinical management protocol, ramp up vaccination and ensure strict enforcement of Covid Appropriate Behaviour.

Regarding the containment measure, Rajesh Bhusan stated that it is critical to plan effective containment measures and implement them stringently, and to strengthen all efforts made for prompt contact tracing of the close contacts of positive cases and immediate quarantine /isolation of all suspected and confirmed cases as per MOHFW guidelines.

A microanalysis is needed to be done of areas showing high positivity (more than 10%) during the past weeks.

Accordingly, all such areas should be targeted for increasing the testing exponentially while maintaining high proportion of RT-PCR tests, Bhusan stated while adding that the State should aim at maintaining positivity rate below 5% in each district duly focusing on increasing the number of tests so as to aid early identification.

On infrasture, Rajesh Bhusan pointed that the State must maintain continuous vigil regarding bed occupancy of critical beds (Oxygen supported and ICU beds), should plan for augmentation of healthcare infrastructure in districts where the occupancy is more than 40% for any bed category.

Trained human resources, infrastructure, logistics and procurement should be planned considering the geographical spread of the pandemic, he stated and continued that the State should also work towards ensuring timely disclosure of all infrastructure availability-based details on public portals or via media so as to avoid misinformation.

In view of the distressing rise in fatalities, he suggested the Chief Secretary to adopt the Ministry's (Health and Family Welfare) clinical management protocol and focus on making it more effective, smooth and prompt.

It is important to monitor all cases under home isolation and put processes in place to ensure smooth hospitalization of patients, in case the same is required, he said.

All facilities also should be monitored with respect to the overall fatality, including deaths being reported between 24, 48 and 72 hours of hospitalization to identify any weak spots and to undertake required corrective action, he continued.

Rajesh Bhusan further stated that vaccination must be used as an aid to the infection containment strategy.

Ramping up vaccination sites, improving the efficiency and utilisation of vaccination, deploying strategic vaccination centres near the containment zones and ensuring speedier vaccination of all citizens aged above 18 years should be undertaken on a priority basis, he added.

He also suggested levying effective fines on SOP violators in public which is critical in controlling the spread of infection.

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