New Delhi: Marking a drop in the number of COVID-19 tests in several states and union territories, the Center on Monday asked them to step up testing so that the spread of the pandemic can be effectively monitored and citizen-centric action can be initiated immediately.
In a letter to the states and union territories, Aarti Ahuja, Additional Secretary in the Union Health Ministry, advised them to pay immediate attention to this aspect and step up testing in a strategic manner keeping in mind the trend of case positivity in specific areas. He highlighted that Omicron is currently spreading across the country.
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Referring to the ministry’s earlier letters and the Ministry of Home Affairs’ advice to prepare a comprehensive pandemic management framework with reference to Omicron on December 27 last year, Ahuja said conducting an investigation is an important component. “However, from the data available on the ICMR portal, it has been observed that there has been a decline in investigation in many states and union territories,” he wrote in the letter. He said that in all the advisories issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the basic objective is speedy isolation and early detection of cases.
“The disease can be prevented from progressing to the severe category through strategic screening in people who are at high risk and who are vulnerable, as well as in areas where the spread is expected to be high,” Ahuja said. He said that the advisory needs to be read in line with the earlier guidelines and advisories of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which recommended that strategic and focused screening of people who are vulnerable and densely populated should be done. areas live in.(agency)