The Union Health Ministry has urged for increased testing and vaccination in districts with higher Covid-19 positivity rates.
Published Jul 22, 2022 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 22, 2022 | 5:30 PM
The union health ministry has urged the to ensure strict surveillance in all the districts of concern that are showing a positivity rate of over 10 percent in the last week. (Creative Common)
According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 11 districts of Tamil Nadu, nine districts of Kerala, and nine districts of Andhra Pradesh have shown a Covid-19 positivity rate of above 10 percent in the past week.
The ministry has urged the states to ensure strict surveillance in all the districts of concern that showed a positivity rate of over 10 percent in the last week.
Surprisingly, the Dindigul district in Tamil Nadu reported a Covid-19 positivity rate of 50.59 percent in the last week.
At a meeting with the states, expressing concern regarding the surge in Covid-19 cases, NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr Vinod Paul said, “We need to be mindful that Covid-19 has not gone. Looking at the global scenario, we need to be on high alert.”
He added: “There is poor surveillance, poor testing and below-average vaccination in many states undergoing the current surge.”
He also urged states to improve the testing in areas with high positivity, increase surveillance as per the revised surveillance strategy, and speed up vaccination.
According to the ministry data, 11 districts in Tamil Nadu are reporting a Covid-19 positivity rate of more than 10 percent.
Apart from Dindigul, Thanjavur (16.17 percent), Virudhunagar (15.77 percent), Chengalpattu (14.78 percent), Thiruvallur (13.44 percent), Erode (13.14 percent), Theni (12.59 percent), Ranipet (12.57 percent), Tiruppur (11.68 percent), Chennai (11.07 percent), and Coimbatore(10.36 percent) reported a positivity rate of above 10 percent between 14 July and 20 July.
The state’s health officials said that they were looking into the situation and taking measures to stop the spread of the virus.
“We are aware of it and will ensure testing as per protocol. We are monitoring the situation,” Dr TS Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health, Tamil Nadu, told South First.
In Andhra Pradesh, the Krishna district reported a Covid-19 positivity rate of 31.35 percent.
Also, Guntur (26.41 percent), Chittoor (23.33 percent), Visakhapatnam (22.77 percent), West Godavari (14.51 percent), East Godavari (14.32 percent), Nellore (12.44 percent), Anantpur (10.96 percent), and Vizianagram (10.70 percent) reported a positivity rate above 10 percent between 14 July and 20 July.
The Union Health Ministry said that the average number of tests per million population in Andhra Pradesh was below the national average.
“We are going to increase testing, especially among those with a severe acute respiratory infection and influenza-like illnesses. These samples will be sent for genome-sequencing to the laboratories of INSACOG, a forum set up under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,” Medical, Health & Family Welfare Commissioner J Nivas told South First.
Out of the 14 districts of Kerala, nine have shown a positivity rate of above 10 percent.
Thiruvananthapuram (19.06 percent), Kollam (17.97 percent), Kottayam (16.42 percent), Pathanamthitta (15.73 percent), Ernakulam (14.46 percent), Alappuzha (13.06 percent), Thrissur (11.47 percent), Palakkad (11.35 percent), and Idukki (10.21 percent) reported a positivity rate of above 10 percent between 14 July and 20 July.
The Union Ministry of Health pointed out that there remains substantial scope in increasing the pace of vaccination in Kerala.
“We are focusing on the implementation of Covid-19 Appropriate Behaviour to control the spread of the infection, and are sending positive samples from large clusters — outbreaks in the community and unusual events — for whole-genome-sequencing. We are also intensifying the implementation of free precaution doses for those aged 18 and above,” a health official told South First.
The Union Health Ministry also advised states to be attentive to clinical symptoms of Covid-19 patients and not wait till their genome sequencing was complete to identify whether a cluster was emerging in any state.
