Test, Track, Treat: Centre Urges States Not to Lower Guard Even as COVID Cases Decline | Key Points

The states were also advised to keep a close watch on the number of hospitalisations and deaths.

Coronavirus in India Latest Update: Even as the COVID cases are steadily going down in most parts of the country, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday urged the states not to let the guard down and asked them to stay vigilant. He said this during an interaction with five eastern states.

During the interactive session, Mandaviya urged the states to monitor the case positivity rate on a daily basis and increase the RT-PCR testing rate as most of the states exhibited a lower share of such tests.

State health ministers, principal secretaries/ additional chief secretaries and information commissioners of Odisha, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal participated in the meeting.

He said while the active cases in most of the states and the positivity rate have shown a fall in the last two weeks, all still need to be vigilant and not lower our guard. The states were also advised to keep a close watch on the number of hospitalisations and deaths.

“It is important to analyse at the state level the proportion of vaccinated and unvaccinated of the hospitalised cases, the deaths and those on ventilators and oxygen support,” he advised the states.

During the meeting, Mandaviya said that irrespective of the COVID variants, ‘test-track-treat-vaccinate and adherence to COVID appropriate behaviour’ continue to remain the tested strategy for COVID-19 management.

However, he reiterated his advice for all states to fully and effectively utilise the ECRP-II funds for strengthening the existing healthcare infrastructure and create new as per requirement.

Furthermore, he reminded them to complete installation and commissioning of the PSA plants, LMO storage tanks and MGPS expeditiously.

Noting that vaccination is a critical tool for pandemic management, Mandaviya advised the states to accelerate vaccination of all eligible populations, especially of the 15-17 age group and those whose second dose is due.

There was a comprehensive and detailed discussion on various aspects of COVID management including ramping up of hospital infrastructure; increased testing, stress on COVID-appropriate behaviour and stringent restrictive measures for breaking the chain of transmission.

(With inputs from PTI)