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By Pramod Madhav: The Centre on Friday asked eight states, including Tamil Nadu to maintain strict surveillance and take preemptive action to control any emerging spread of infection, amid rise in Covid cases in those states. The country has been witnessing a consistent rise in COVID-19 cases since March, with 10,262 cases reported in the week ending April 20.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, in a letter, alerted the State Principal Secretary for Health and Family Welfare, Senthil Kumar, about the increasing positivity rate in Tamil Nadu.
The health secretary stated that while the positivity rate had increased to 5.5% across the country by April 19, it had reached 6% with 510 cases reported on April 20 in Tamil Nadu.
READ | Covid cases rise: Centre asks 8 states to keep strict vigil, take pre-emptive action in areas of concern
“While the five-fold strategy for control of pandemic – Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination and adherence to Covid appropriate behaviour – remains the time-tested approach, it is critical for the state health departments to institute prompt and effective public health measures with a key focus on the aspects such as strengthening Covid surveillance in all districts and monitoring trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and SARI cases in all sentinel surveillance sites on a regular basis and ensure its reporting through IDSP-IHIP network,” the health secretary said in the letter.
He also urged the state to focus on maintaining adequate levels of testing (especially in emerging hotspots) in all the districts.
The focus should be on areas reporting high case positivity and new clusters of cases, Bhushan said, and asked the state government to increase the number of Covid-positive samples sent for Whole Genomic Sequencing.
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Tamil Nadu has also been asked to ensure operational readiness and adequate strengthening of hospital infrastructure, especially at the sub-district level in terms of availability of essential drugs and equipment and adequately trained manpower. Adequate financial support has already been provided to all states under various financial packages and PM-ABHIM.
The state has been further asked to encourage uptake of precaution doses among eligible beneficiaries while countering vaccine hesitancy through community awareness and improve community awareness to encourage early reporting of symptoms and testing as well as adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviours, particularly in terms of avoiding overcrowded or poorly ventilated settings and use of masks in such settings.
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