New Delhi: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will hold a high-level review meeting on Wednesday (December 20) on respiratory illnesses and the Covid19 upsurge. The meeting will be held at 10 a.m. According to the sources, the meeting will be held with State Health Ministers and senior officers. Sources said,
Union Health Ministers and Additional Chief/Principal Secretaries (Health) of all States/UTs and relevant Central Ministries/Departments on the preparedness of health facilities and services given the recent upsurge in respiratory illness such as Influenza Like Illness/Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (ILI/SARI) (including by COVID-19).
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Meanwhile, given the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in some States/UTs in India and the detection of the first case of the new JN.1 variant of COVID-19 in the country, Sudhansh Pant, Union Health Secretary sent an advisory to States/UTs, highlighting the need for maintaining a state of constant vigil over the COVID situation in the country. The advisory read,
Considering the upcoming festive season, States were advised to put in place requisite public health measures and other arrangements to minimize the risk of increase in transmission of the disease by adherence to the maintenance of respiratory hygiene.
States were urged to ensure effective compliance with the detailed operational guidelines for the revised surveillance strategy for COVID-19 as has been shared by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Union Health Ministry has also given advisory to States regarding ensuring Covid19 testing. The advisory read,
States were advised to ensure adequate testing in all the districts as per Covid-19 testing guidelines and maintain the recommended share of RT-PCR and Antigen tests.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
