Haryana, 7 other states told to strengthen Covid surveillance

Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Friday wrote a letter to the health secretaries of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, and the government of NCT of Delhi in view of ‘consistent rise’ in Covid cases in the country.

Bhushan said, “India has been witnessing a consistent rise in Covid cases since March with 10,262 cases reported in the week ending on April 20. A rise in the positivity rate has also been noted across the country, with 5.5% positivity reported in the week ending April 19, against 4.7% positivity reported in the previous week. This is a cause of concern,” the letter read.

Union health secretary has asked the states to institute prompt and effective public health measures with a key focus on several aspects, ranging from strengthening Covid surveillance in all districts to improving community awareness.

Bhushan also asked the states to maintain adequate levels of testing (especially in emerging hotspots), monitor trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and SARI cases, and increase the number of Covid-positive samples sent for whole genomic sequencing.

1,348 new Covid cases in state

Meanwhile, Haryana on Friday reported 1,348 fresh coronavirus cases, over half of them from Gurugram and Faridabad, the two districts in the National Capital Region which have been fuelling the current surge in infections in the state.

According to the state health department’s bulletin, out of total fresh Covid infections, Gurugram reported 598 cases followed by 159 in Faridabad.

Among other Haryana districts, Rohtak and Jind reported 89 cases each while Hisar, Panchkula and Jhajjar reported 68, 59 and 55 cases, respectively, according to the bulletin.

The total number of active cases in the state was 5,468.

According to the bulletin, Covid positivity rate in the state on Friday was 13.82%.