New Delhi: Being aware of the spike in Covid19 cases in Delhi, Kerala, and Maharashtra, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Friday appealed to the representatives of these three States to intensify testing and adhere to the Covid19 appropriate behavior. Bhusan during a video conferencing with the health secretary and other representatives of these three States also asked them to increase the Covid19 vaccination to all eligible people.
A senior official in the health ministry privy to the meeting told ETV Bharat that Bhushan has expressed concern over the rise in Covid cases. "All the States have been asked to check the spread of infections," the official said. As per government statistics, Delhi has witnessed a spike of 305 cases in the last 24 hours, whereas Kerala registered a spike of 1255 cases in the last 24 hours and Maharashtra witnessed 1373 cases the same period of time.
These States have been witnessing a spike in the last few days. The health secretary has assured all these three States regarding the availability of Covid19 vaccines. Talking about the spike in Covid19 cases, renowned health expert and president of the Asian Society of Emergency Medicine Dr. Tamorish Kole said that the states witnessing a spike in cases need to adhere Covid appropriate behavior.
"Covid19 keeps changing its behavior. It's possible that there will be a new variant of the virus with much more transmissible capacity. However, the severity rate with this infection is very low," said Dr. Kole. He said that as India has expedited its vaccination drive "the chance of severity after getting infected with Covid19 virus is less."
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Meanwhile, in another meeting Health Secretary Bhushan reviewed the physical and financial progress under the National Health Mission (NHM), Emergency Covid Response Package (ECRP)-II, Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), 15th finance commission grants and Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme (PM-NDP).
Bhushan highlighted for ensuring the implementation of programs and initiatives, allocated government resources under NHM must be expedited and utilized properly. States and UTs have also been asked to expedite proposals and MoUs to be sent to Union Health Ministry under PM-ABHIM to enable the ministry to release funds timely for the States. States were asked to complete all the activities under ECRP-II by December 31 this year.
