The Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Mansukh Mandaviya, chaired a high-level meeting on Wednesday (December 21) with senior officials and experts to review the COVID-19 situation in India. The meeting was held in view of the sudden rise in coronavirus cases in the United States, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Brazil, France, and several other countries.
Mr. Mandaviya has directed the officials to be alert and strengthen surveillance of all the states and Union Territories (UTs).
In view of the rising cases of #Covid19 in some countries, reviewed the situation with experts and officials today.
COVID is not over yet. I have directed all concerned to be alert and strengthen surveillance.
We are prepared to manage any situation. pic.twitter.com/DNEj2PmE2W
— Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) December 21, 2022
Also Read: India On Alert Mode Amid Surge In COVID-19 Infections In Other Countries
Here are the highlights of the meeting:
- The Union Ministry reviewed the status of the countries with a rise in coronavirus cases.
- Mr. Mandaviya has directed that all states and union territories (UTs) strengthen their surveillance.
- The Union Health Ministry has advised citizens to wear masks in congested areas.
- The Ministry will hold weekly meetings with concerned officials and experts to monitor the country’s COVID-19 situation.
- Dr. VK Paul, Member-Health at NITI Aayog, has advised people with comorbidities and senior citizens to wear masks in congested areas, indoors and outdoors.
- Dr. Paul advised people not to panic about the potential outbreak and to continue taking precautions, such as wearing a mask.
- The Ministry has driven the focus on detection and testing, and stepping up genome sequencing.
- The Centre will strengthen the facility-based surveillance and track down the severe pneumonia cases reported in all the health centres and clinics.
- The Centre will also intensify community-based surveillance, which is the systematic detection and reporting of COVID-19 cases within a community, by community members.
On Tuesday, (December 20), the Union Health Ministry issued an alert to sequence all the positive case samples to track the variants through the SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network.
In view of the recent rising cases of COVID19 in some countries, Union Health Ministry has requested States/UTs to send samples of all #COVID19 positive cases to INSACOG labs to track new variants, if any.
Health Ministry and INSACOG are keeping a sharp watch on the situation. pic.twitter.com/ODLTkFwsdH
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) December 20, 2022
The meeting was attended by Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Ayush, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Rajiv Bahl, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, Dr. VK Paul, National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) Chairman, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) scientist, Nivedita Gupta, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Director, Atul Goyal, Directorate General of Health Services, COVID-19 Working Group, and NTAGI Chairperson, Dr. N K Arora, among other officials.
Also Read: World Health Organization Hopes COVID-19 Will No Longer Be A Global Health Emergency In 2023
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