Health secretary reviews covid situation, directs states to ensure hospital preparedness & mockdrill
1 min read 27 Mar 2023, 09:56 PM ISTRajesh Bhushan advises states to be on the alert and ensure preparedness for covid-19 management and cautioned states/UTs against any complacency and advised them to follow government advisory
PremiumNEW DELHI : Amid rise in covid cases across the country, the union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Monday reviewed the public health preparedness and vaccination status with states/UTs. He has directed the states to focus on surveillance & genome sequencing and increase the pace of testing. Furthermore, the government will conduct a mock drill for readiness of hospital infrastructure on 10th – 11th April.
Bhushan advised states to be on the alert and ensure preparedness for covid-19 management and cautioned States/UTs against any complacency and advised them to follow government advisory.
He stressed on ramping of testing with a higher proportion of RT-PCR, and whole genome sequencing of positive samples and urged everyone to follow covid-19 appropriate behavior. He also stressed on the need to increase administration of precaution dose among people, especially for the vulnerable population group.
The union health secretary also advised states to undertake mock drills across all health facilities on 10th & 11th April to ensure operational readiness of hospital infrastructure, including oxygen cylinders, PSA plants, ventilators, logistics and human resources.
Bhushan informed about the status of the last mock drill which was conducted in December last year. The drills were conducted in a total of 21,939 facilities, including 16,601 govt. facilities and 5,338 private facilities. Over 94% of PSA plants and oxygen concentrators were found functional across the country while over 87% of ICU beds, ventilators, O2 beds and isolation beds were found in working condition.
States were also urged to ensure availability of sufficient designated beds & health workers across the states, enhance community awareness regarding disease & vaccination and regularly update covid-19 data in Covid India Portal.
India has been witnessing an increase in covid-19 cases leading to the increase in case positivity rate. Maharashtra has noted a positivity rate of 4.58%, Gujarat has a positivity rate of 2.17%, Kerala with 4.51%, Karnataka with 3.05% and Delhi has seen weekly positivity rise to 4.25%. Similarly, Himachal Pradesh witnessed a weekly positivity increase to 7.48%, Rajasthan with 1.62% and Tamil Nadu reported an increase in weekly positivity to 2.40%.
In the last 24 hours, India has reported around 1800 new covid cases.
