Covid-19: India at risk, health infrastructure could be swamped, Centre to states

NEW DELHI: With many states facing a resurgence of Covid-19 cases, the government on Tuesday said the whole country was at possible risk and warned that the health infrastructure could be swamped.
The Centre cautioned states and UTs that the current surge in cases had the potential to overwhelm the healthcare system unless urgent measures were taken. It said Delhi — taken as a single administrative unit — with 8,032 active cases was now among the top 10 high burden districts in the country.

Maharashtra continues to be the worst hit with eight districts on the list while Karnataka has one, Bengaluru Urban, among high burden districts.

“The situation is going from bad to worse. This is a serious cause for concern. No state, no part of the county should be complacent. Trends show the virus is still very active and can penetrate our defences. When we think we have controlled it, it strikes back. There is a concern we should all be mindful of,” Niti Aayog member-health Dr V K Paul said.




Paul added that the country was facing a severe, intensive situation and the whole country was at potential risk.
In a letter to chief secretaries of states, health secretary Rajesh Bhushan asked all districts, irrespective of whether it was seeing a surge in cases or not, to draw up a ‘district action plan’ with clear timelines and responsibilities to control the spread of infection.
“The current rise of cases is of concern and has the potential of overwhelming the healthcare system, unless checked right now,” Bhushan said in the letter, underlining the steps that need to be taken to stem the rise.



The Centre has advised states and UTs to significantly increase testing along with a high proportion of RT-PCR tests, tracing 25-30 contacts per positive case, isolation, and larger containment zones. “Test, track, treat” remains the key, Bhushan said.

States have also been advised to do mapping of cases based on surveillance activities. Besides, states must ensure compliance of Covid-appropriate behaviour, if needed by using the Police Act. On Monday, 56,211 people tested positive for Covid-19. India’s average weekly positivity rate during the last week was 5.65%.