Centre writes to state over rising Covid-19 cases

The rise in test positivity rate (TPR) for Covid-19 in Maharashtra, compared to the country's TPR, has raised concerns. The Centre has written a letter to the principal secretary of health, Maharashtra, asking to identify from where the cluster of cases have been reported and to take pro-active measures regarding the same. On Thursday the state reported 226 new cases, of which Mumbai accounted for 35. The state and city have 926 and 185 active cases respectively. Rajesh Bhushan, secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, wrote a letter to the secretary of public health department, Maharashtra, saying, "There is a need to follow a risk assessment-based approach to prevent and contain the infection, without losing the gains made so far in the fight against the pandemic."

‘Monitor new clusters'

He stressed on monitoring new and emerging clusters of new Covid-19 cases, influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases in all health facilities or through dedicated fever clinics on a regular basis for detecting early warning signals of the spread of the infection. A rise in Covid cases has been noted specifically in certain parts of the country with a total of 2,082 cases reported in the week ending March 8, which rose to 3,264 cases in the week ending March 15. Maharashtra reported a positivity rate of 1.92 per cent in the week ending March 15, which is higher than India's positivity rate of 0.61 per cent during the same period. The state has been asked to examine the situation of Covid-19 at the micro (district and sub-district) level and maintain focus on the implementation of necessary measures.

Also read: Covid-19: Mumbai reports 206 per cent increase in active cases in 14 days in March

‘Administer precaution dose'

Bhushan also stressed on genomic sequencing for prescribed samples of international passengers, collection of samples from sentinel sites (identified health facilities), and local clusters of cases, proactive promotion to increase administration of precaution dose for all eligible beneficiaries and following Covid-appropriate behaviour particularly in enclosed and crowded spaces.

The letter also said that it is essential that the state maintain strict watch, and take pre-emptive action if required, in any areas of concern to control the emerging spread of infection. On Thursday there was no death reported due to Covid-19. A senior health official from the state health department said, "We have kept a close watch on the rising numbers; we will follow the directions which have come from the Central government."

Inputs from agencies