At a time when COVID-19 cases in the country are seeing a sustained spike, 23 States and Union Territories have testing rates that are even lower than the current national average of 100 tests per million people, the Health Ministry said during a review meeting on Friday. It urged all States to swiftly ramp up testing and also increase the share of RT-PCR tests, which offer more accurate results.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), COVID testing can support transmission reduction at both individual and population levels.
According to data released at the review, there were 4,188 average daily cases recorded in India in the week ending April 7, in comparison to just 571 daily cases three weeks ago. The weekly positivity rate is now at 3.02%. Much of the surge is located in eight States; in Kerala, Maharashtra and Delhi, 10 or more districts are reporting positivity rates above 10%; apart from these, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Haryana also have more than five districts reporting positivity rates above 5%.
Tracking variants
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya also advised States to ramp up vaccination, especially of vulnerable populations, identify emerging hotspots of infection, and ensure preparedness by holding mock drills of hospital infrastructure next week.
Globally, 88,503 daily average cases are being reported this week. The Health Ministry said that the WHO is closely tracking one variant of interest, XBB.1.5, and six other variants are under monitoring: BQ.1, BA.2.75, CH.1.1, XBB, XBF and XBB.1.16. It was highlighted that while Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the predominant variant, most of the assigned variants have little or no significant transmissibility, disease severity or immune escape. The prevalence of XBB.1.16 increased from 21.6% in February to 35.8% in March. However, no evidence of an increase in hospitalisation or mortality has been reported.
‘Identify hotspots’
Dr. Mandaviya urged States to identify hotspots by monitoring the trends of influenza-like illnesses and severe acute respiratory infections, sending sufficient samples for testing for COVID-19 and influenza, and ramping up the whole genome sequencing of positive samples.
The Minister said that while India has achieved over 90% coverage of primary vaccination, the coverage of precaution doses is very low. He advised States to ramp up vaccination of the eligible population, especially the elderly and vulnerable groups. He also emphasised the importance of enhancing public awareness campaigns regarding adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour.
Mock drills for hospitals
At the review meeting, Dr. Mandaviya urged States to be on the alert and be well-prepared for COVID-19 management, directing State Health Ministers to conduct mock drills of hospital infrastructure on April 10 and 11 and to review health preparedness with district administrations and health officials on April 8 and 9. He requested them to personally monitor and review the preparedness of logistics and infrastructure, including the availability of sufficient designated hospital beds, and to ensure adequate stock of essential medicines. States were also asked to regularly update data on the COVID-19 India portal.
“The Centre and the States need to continue working in a collaborative spirit as was done during the previous surges for COVID-19 prevention and management,” the Health Minister said.
