Centre asks states with high Covid caseloads to impose stricter curbs

Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Saturday reviewed the Covid-19 situation in 10 states that are reporting increase in the number of daily cases and asked them to curtail the movement of people in districts where the positivity rate – the proportion of samples that return positive, which is indicative of the spread of the infection – is over 10%.

The 10 states that were reviewed were Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, and Manipur.

With almost 80% of the active cases being in home isolation, the health ministry directed the states to strictly monitor the cases so that there was no transmission of the virus in the neighbourhoods. Monitoring of the active cases should also ensure timely treatment to patients who need hospitalisation, it added.

“All districts reporting positivity rate of more than 10 per cent in the last few weeks need to consider strict restrictions to prevent/curtail the movement of people, formation of crowds and intermingling of people to prevent the spread of infection,” the Union health ministry said.

The 10 states have been asked to carry out targeted vaccination in districts with less than 10% positivity rate to protect them against further spread. The availability of the vaccine doses are communicated to the states on a fortnightly basis, and the Union health ministry said the states must plan vaccination drives accordingly.

The states were also asked to direct the private hospitals to install Pressure Swing Adsorption Oxygen plants under the Clinical Establishment Act, 2010, in addition to the plants being installed in the public hospitals by the Centre and the state governments. So far, only 17 states and Union Territories have adopted the Act.

“Provisions under the Clinical Establishment Act enable states to issue such direction to the private hospitals...,” the government statement said.

Apart from the states that are reporting increase in cases or positivity rates, all other states have also been directed to conduct their own serological surveillance to get district-wise estimate of exposure to Sars-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19.

The states have also been asked to increase the vaccination for those above 45 years of age “as evidence shows near 80% of the mortality is from these vulnerable age-groups”, said the government release.