PM Modi calls for effective contact tracing, strengthening health infrastructure

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairing a highlevel meeting on Thursday to review the public health response measures for containing and managing Covid19 and strengthening health infrastructure including availability of drugs and oxygen cylinders amid the growing Omicron scare called for prompt and effective contact tracing ramping up of testing and accelerating vaccinationHe was briefed about the emerging scenario globally driven by the new variant with an overview of surge in cases in countries having high vaccination coverage and presence of Omicron variant He was also apprised of the technical brief and priority actions recommended by the WHO in the contextA snapshot of the status of Covid19 and its Omicron variant in the country including states reporting a higher number of cases districts reporting higher positivity and higher number of clusters was presented to him He was also briefed about the actions taken when the first advisory of the Health Ministry was shared with the statesThe PM directed the officials to maintain a high level of vigil and alertness at all levels He directed the Centre to work in close coordination with the states to support their efforts of public health measures of containment and management under the Whole of Government approachThe strategy of the Centre for proactive focussed collaborative and cooperative fight against the pandemic should guide all our future actions he saidIn view of the new variant we should be satark alert and saavdhan cautious The fight against the pandemic is not over and the need for continued adherence to Covid safe behaviour is of paramount importance even today he stressedAlso Read Modi to lay foundation stone of milk plant in VaranasiThe PM directed the officials to ensure that the health systems in the states beginning from the district level are strengthened to meet any challenge posed by the new variant It is important for states to ensure that the oxygen supply equipments are installed and fully functional he saidHe also told the officials to work with the states on a regular basis and review the status of preparedness of various components of health infrastructure including training and capacity building of human resources timely availability of ambulances readiness of states to operationalise Covid facilities for institutional quarantining and effective and supervised monitoring of those in home isolationHeightened and close monitoring of emerging clusters and hotspots through and active prompt and effective surveillance should continue he stated He directed for sending a good number of positive samples for genome sequencing to INSACOG labs in a prompt manner while accelerating the testing to ensure quick identification of cases for timely containment and treatmentThe PM said that teams should be sent to the states with low vaccination rising cases and insufficient health infrastructure to assist them improve the situationApprised that more than 88 per cent of the eligible population is administered the first dose of Covid19 vaccine and more than 60 per cent the second dose he said that states need to ensure that the eligible population is fully vaccinated and to proceed to meet the target in a saturation modeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever