Govt writes to 5 states, JK over rising Covid cases

December 04, 2021 18:20

The Union health ministry on Saturday wrote to Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha and Mizoram to take necessary steps under the 'Test-Track-Treat-Vaccinate-Covid Appropriate Behaviour' strategy to control the spread of COVID-19 and reduce fatality.

The move comes in view of rising cases of the infection, weekly positivity rates and weekly deaths in some districts.

Referring to a letter sent to all states/UTs on November 27 in the context of the new Omicron variant, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Saturday said all states have been advised to undertake enhanced surveillance of international travellers, monitor emerging hotspots, prompt contact tracing of positive people, besides sending all positive samples for genome sequencing, early identification of cases and review of health infrastructure preparedness, and most importantly to focus on IEC and community sensitisation.

In a letter addressed to the principal secretary (Health), he pointed out that Karnataka has reported 8,073 new cases in the month ending December 3 (30 days).

It is also important to note that the state has reported a slight increase in weekly new cases to 2,272 cases (week ending December 3) from 1,664 cases (week ending November 26), along with an increase in weekly new deaths from 22 to 29 over the same period, Bhushan said.

An increase in weekly new deaths has been noted in Bengaluru Urban, from eight new deaths reported in the week ending November 25 to 14 deaths in the week ending December 2, he said.

According to the health ministry, rise in weekly cases have also been noted in Tumakuru, Dharwad, Bengaluru Urban and Mysuru in the southern state.

The secretary further said Kerala has reported 1,71,521 new cases in the month ending December 3, with a contribution of 55.8 per cent to the country's new cases from over the past month.

"Also, 13 out of 14 districts are reporting a high quantum of weekly new cases in the state. Districts of concern in the week ending December 2 are Thiruvananthapuram (5,541), Ernakulam, (4,976), Kozhikode (3,676), Thrissur (2,903) and Kottayam (2,478)," Bhushan noted. -- PTI

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