COURTESY HT NOV 23
UP to screen inbound travellers from Delhi
Capital reports 121 new deaths, 6,746 cases; Centre set to dispatch high-level teams to more states
Ajmal Khan Road seen packed with shoppers at Karol Bagh in New Delhi on Sunday. SANCHIT KHANNA/HT
Rhythma Kaul and Brajendra K Parashar
letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW : A week after sending high-level teams to five states to handhold them in containing the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) , the Centre is set to dispatch experts to three other states to review public health measures there and assist local authorities in managing the pandemic.
The three-member expert teams are being sent to Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, and expected to submit a detailed report on the outbreak in these states. Alarmed by a surge in Covid-19 cases in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, meanwhile, has begun random testing of people travelling to the state from the National Capital Region, chief secretary Rajendra Kumar Tiwari said.
The moves come in the backdrop of 6,746 fresh cases in Delhi on Sunday along with 121 deaths. The positivity rate in the Capital remained high at 12.29%.
“The Union government has decided to depute high-level Central teams to Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to support the States in COVID response and management. These States have been either reporting a rise in the number of active cases i.e. those who are hospitalized or are in home isolation under medical supervision, or demonstrating a rise in the daily new cases,” the Union health ministry said in a statement.
Each team consists of an official from a ministry, and two doctors including a respiratory medicine specialist and a specialist from community medicine department.
Separately, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold a virtual meetings with chief ministers and other representatives of states and union territories on Tuesday to review the Covid-19 situation and discuss a vaccine distribution strategy when one becomes available.
Modi is expected to hold two back-to-back meetings, one with eight states with high caseloads and another with states and UTs to discuss a vaccine distribution strategy, people familiar with the development said.
“The teams will meet additional chief secretary/principal secretary (health) of respective states to de-brief and are also requested to submit a report of their observations to respective states…,” reads an official document sent out by the public health division of the Union health ministry. A copy of the document has been seen by HT.
The nodal officer for the team being sent to Punjab is Vijay Kumar Singh, additional secretary, ministry of textiles. The pulmonary medicine specialist is Dr AN Aggarwal from the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh. Dr PVN Luxmi from the same hospital is the community medicine specialist.
Former director general of health services, Union health ministry, Dr Rajiv Garg will be heading the team being sent to Himachal Pradesh. The other two members include Dr NK Gupta, department of respiratory medicine, Safdarjung Hospital, and Professor B Dhiman, director, community medicine, Lady Hardinge Medical College.
The team being sent to Uttar Pradesh is headed by Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, joint secretary, ministry of power. The other two members are Dr AK Singh, department of TB & Chest Diseases, Lady Hardinge Medical College, and Dr SK Jain, additional director, community medicine, National Centre for Disease Control.
These teams will be visiting the districts reporting a high number of Covid-19 cases and support the states’ efforts towards strengthening containment, surveillance, testing, infection prevention and control measures.
The experts will also help in efficient clinical management of the positive cases, and shall guide the states in effectively managing the challenges related to timely diagnosis and follow-up action on cases so that more lives are saved and the chain of transmission is successfully halted.
India’s current active caseload (440,962), which is the country’s actual disease burden, has declined to 4.85% of the total positive cases, and has been sustained below the 5% mark. The recovery rate has improved to 93.69% as on Sunday, and the total number of recoveries has jumped to 8,521,617.
According to the government data, 26 states and union territories currently have less than 20,000 active cases. Seven states have between 20,000 and 50,000 active cases; Maharashtra and Kerala are reporting at least around 50,000 cases.
“Overall the situation may not be that bad but at certain places a combination of cold weather, pollution, and festivities, weddings or other family functions is increasing the risk of infection. People need to be extra careful as the virus is very much in circulation so wearing a mask, physical distancing and not crowding is key to prevent contracting the disease,” said Dr GC Khilnani, former head, pulmonary medicine department, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi.
In Uttar Pradesh, health authorities have started random testing of people travelling to the state from the NCR centred on the national capital and adjoining satellite towns, the state chief secretary said.
“We have started testing on a random basis people reaching UP by buses, trains, flights or personal vehicles from Delhi and other NCR districts in view of a fresh surge in the coronavirus cases in Delhi,” Tiwari told HT in Lucknow on Sunday. He said officials had been asked to set up Covid-19 desks at all important railway stations and bus stations.
He, however, said there were no plans, as of now, to put curbs on travel or impose other restrictions.
“But certainly, people have to be even more vigilant and strictly follow the rules related to social distancing and wearing of face masks considering the fact that the pandemic has again become a serious challenge in several states including neighbouring Delhi,” he stressed.
At a Covid-19 meeting in Lucknow on Saturday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath asked officials to step up the state of alert across the state against the backdrop of a fresh wave of Covid-19 cases in neighbouring states, especially Delhi and think two steps ahead to win the battle against pandemic.
According to Tiwari, although personal protective equipment (PPE) kits do act as a wall against the spread of the coronavirus disease, they undermine the level of trust Covid-19 patients have in their treatment because they are not able to see the faces of doctors and health workers examining them.
“Health personnel including doctors who visit Covid wards to examine patients are all covered from head to toe under the PPE kits. Patients do not know as to who is examining and treating them— doctors or compounders/nurses,” he said.
“This is why we are regularly telling chief medical officers and other senior officers to ensure that all doctors, nurses etc who walk up to patients in the Covid wards must also wear plates on their PPE kits, clearly showing their name and designation,” he said.
“By reading the name and designation of the treating doctors, the patient will know which doctor is attending to him and this will infuse a lot of confidence and hope in him making his recovery even faster,” Tiwari pointed out.
The chief secretary cautioned that the World Health Organisation’s praise of Uttar Pradesh for its improved Covid-19 management should not create a sense of complacence. The situation may have improved in India’s most populous state, but the government cannot allow anyone to lower their guard at this juncture.
He said the government’s current focus is on minimising the number of Covid-19 fatalities in the state through a detailed analysis of deaths that had already taken place