Rise in COVID-19 cases: Health Ministry issues alert to 5 States

On Tuesday, the Central government sent a letter to all these five states, asking them to monitor influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory cases (SARI) cases in all health facilities on a regular basis for detecting early warning signals of the spread of the pandemic.

New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), on Wednesday, issued an alert to Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, and Mizoram as the five States have been witnessing a rapid spike in COVID-19 cases. The five states have been reporting the majority of COVID-19 cases. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had a marathon meeting with senior officials from the health ministry, VK Paul, Chairperson of the national Covid19 task force, Dr. Balram Bhargava, Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Director AIIMS Dr. Randeep Guleria to review the COVID-19 scenario in India.

"During the meeting, the current scenario in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, and Mizoram were discussed as the states where COVID-19 cases are increasing alarmingly," said a senior official from the health ministry. It was decided to ask these states to increase vaccination, monitor new clusters, and implement appropriate containment measures to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. "The way Covid cases are increasing has worried the central government," the official stated.

As per statistics, Maharashtra has reported 693 new cases in the one week ending Tuesday with an increase in positivity rate from 0.39 percent to 0.40 percent. Similarly, Uttar Pradesh has reported 217 new cases during the same period with an increase in positivity rate from 0.03 percent to 0.09 percent. Delhi had reported 998 cases in the week ending April 12 but the numbers spiked to 2,671 cases and the positivity rate jumped from 1.42 percent to 3.49 percent. Similarly, Haryana witnessed an increase in new Covid cases in a week from 521 to 1,299. Meanwhile, Mizoram reported an increase in positivity rate from 16.11 percent to 16.68 percent.

On Tuesday, the Central government sent a letter to all these five states, asking them to monitor influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory cases (SARI) cases in all health facilities on a regular basis for detecting early warning signals of the spread of the pandemic. "All the State governments have also been asked to take the necessary action required to contain the spread of Covid19 infection," said another health ministry official attached to the Covd19 monitoring cell of the Ministry.

When contacted, former chief scientist of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Dr. Raman Gangakhedkar told this correspondent that people should continue adhering to Covid appropriate behavior. "It's not advisable to remove masks and forget social distancing at a time when Covid19 is still there in the society," said Dr. Gangakhedkar, a renowned epidemiologist. As per findings, the BA.2 sublineage of the Omicron variant has given reasons to be cautious at present.

"BA.2 variant of Omicron is on the rise globally. The threat of a fresh wave of infection can't be ruled out," said Dr. Tamorish Kole, president of the Asian Society of Emergency Medicine. He said that the vaccination process should be further accelerated across the country so that the infection does not cause serious complications. As per a WHO report, BA.2 variant is more noticeable in the South East Asia region, followed by African and European regions.

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