Centre urges eight states to be pro-active to curb Omicron cases

In his letter, Bhushan pointed out that Ahmadabad, Rajkot, and Surat in Gujarat, Gurugram in Haryana, Delhi, Ranchi in Jharkhand, Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Kolkata in West Bengal, Bengaluru Urban in Karnataka, Thane, Pune, Mumbai, and Mumbai Suburban in Maharashtra, have reported a sudden and significant surge in cases in last two weeks.

New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry on Thursday specifically asked Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Jharkhand to take proactive action to contain the surge of Omicron cases in the last two weeks.

"There has been a sudden and significant surge in cases in the last two weeks. This issue needs to be addressed productively and immediately to ensure that neither transmission spreads further nor do we reach a situation of increased mortality due to late detection of the cases," said Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan in a letter sent to the States.

In his letter, Bhushan pointed out that Ahmadabad, Rajkot and Surat in Gujarat, Gurugram in Haryana, Delhi, Ranchi in Jharkhand, Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Kolkata in West Bengal, Bengaluru Urban in Karnataka, Thane, Pune, Mumbai, and Mumbai Suburban in Maharashtra, have reported a sudden and significant surge in cases in last two weeks.

"There is an increased detection of the Variant of Concern (VoC) Omicron, in different parts of the country. All states are advised to ensure district level action including implementation of restrictions based on the regular evidence," said Bhushan.

States were also advised to undertake enhanced surveillance of international travelers, continued monitoring of emerging hotspots, contact tracing of positive individuals, and follow-up for 14 days.

"It has been seen that there has been an increase in the cases of Covid19 and lessening of doubling time of Covid19 cases in States," said Bhushan.

The health secretary in his letter also reiterated to maintain continuous vigil in view of the recent increase in domestic travel, due to various events such as marriage, festive celebrations, vacations having either recently concluded or underway.

Bhushan, in his letter, also asked to enhance RT PCR testing as well as RAT maintaining the ratio, setting up containment and buffer zones, strengthening hospital-level preparedness besides adhering to the Covid appropriate behaviour.