Health Ministry has warned of a slight COVID-19 surge in the past one week with the Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan now having written to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra asking them follow risk-assessment-based approach in the public health responses without losing the gains made so far in the fight against the pandemic.
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The Ministry said that a sustained and significant decline in the number of COVID-19 cases has been observed in India over the past three months. However in the past one week a slight upsurge in cases is being noticed with 15,708 cases reported in the week ending June 3, 2022.
Also, there is a rise in weekly positivity rate from 0.52% on week ending May 27, 2022 to 0.73% on week ending June 3, 2022
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The Centre said there are a few States which are reporting a higher contribution to India’s cases indicating the possibility of localized spread of infection.
The Secretary has written to officials advising them to push COVID-19 appropriate behaviour monitor clusters of new COVID-19 cases.
States have been asked to ensure adequate testing as per guidelines. They have been asked to monitor influenza-like illness (ILI) and SARI cases in all health facilities on a regular basis.
“States should go for genomic sequencing for prescribed samples of international passengers, collection of samples from sentinel sites and local clusters of cases. States must maintain a strict watch and take pre-emptive action if required to control any emerging spread of infection,’’ said the Centre.