New Delhi: In line with the progressive, premature and forward-looking approach of the Government of India, the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has sought to prevent and manage the recent spurt in cases of Covid-19 by States / UTs. Presided over a high level review meeting with Health Ministers of 11 States / UTs today to review the measures taken. The meeting lasted for more than three hours. These states / UTs including Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have recorded an unprecedented boom in new Covid chain.
The Union Health Minister introduced a snapshot of the unprecedented increase in new cases at the beginning of the meeting. He said that on April 12, 2021, the highest number of Covid cases were reported in India on a single day so far, which was also the highest number of days in the world. On April 12, 2021, India accounted for 22.8% of the total cases of Covid-19 infection worldwide.
He said, “India currently has the fastest growth rate in new covid cases at 7.6%, which is 1.3 times higher than the 5.5% growth recorded in June 2020. It saw an alarming increase in the daily number of active cases. Is going up to 16,79,000 at the moment. Also, there has been a sharp increase of 10.2% in the number of deaths.
This shows the huge difference between the number of new cases coming up every day and the number of people recovering from the disease. That with ever-increasing active cases, infection cases are growing much faster than cases of recovery from the disease. ” All the 11 states / UTs have already crossed their maximum number of infections in a day and there is a similar situation in some districts like Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Nashik, Thane, Lucknow, Raipur, Ahmedabad and Aurangabad.
Dr Harsh Vardhan referred to the rapid development in the health sector infrastructure to deal with the crisis, saying: “We now have 2463 labs with 15, compared to just one lab available at the beginning of the epidemic. Lac has a combined daily check-in capability.
The total number of investigations has increased to 26,88,06,123 with 14,95,397 investigations conducted in the last 24 hours. In a three-tier health framework to treat Covid-19 according to severity, there are now 2,084 hospitals dedicated to the disease (89 centers and the rest 1,995 are subordinate to states), dedicated 4,043 health centers and dedicated 12,673 care centers. Are included.
A total of 18,52,265 beds including 4,68,974 beds are available in hospitals dedicated to the treatment of Covid. ”Dr. Harsh Vardhan reminded health ministers that last year the Center had provided 34,228 ventilators to the states and assured a new supply of ventilators: 1,121 of these ventilators to Maharashtra, 1,700 to Uttar Pradesh, 1,500 to Jharkhand, 1,600 to Gujarat, 152 to Central. 230 will be given to the state and Chhattisgarh.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan also discussed the alleged issue of vaccine deficiency, stating the number of beneficiaries vaccinated in each targeted section of the population. So far, the total vaccine consumption (including loss) is about 12 crore 57 lakh 18 thousand doses as against 14 crore 15 lakh doses provided by the Center to the states.
Even now the states have around 58 lakh doses available, while one crore and 16 lakh 84 thousand doses are in process, they will be distributed by next week. He said, “Stocks of every small state are replenished after seven days. For larger states, the time period is four days. ”Emphasizing that there is no shortage of vaccines, the Health Minister appealed to further intensify the vaccination practice.
NCDC Director Dr. S. K. Singh presented a detailed analysis of the situation in these states. Along with the states / UTs, issues such as rising day-to-day cases in many districts, day-to-day infection rates, increase in mortality in states, emphasis on clinical infrastructure and the need for more healthcare personnel were discussed. .
State Health Ministers shared a brief snapshot of the best efforts being made, including actions taken to prevent, monitor and treat Covid infection cases. Almost all states and union territories increased the supply of oxygen cylinders; Increasing the supply of Remadecivir in hospitals; Increase ventilator stock; And raised issues such as increasing the supply of vaccine supplements.
Many of them raised the issue of connecting medical oxygen supply lines and setting prices for essential drugs such as Remadecivir, which are sold at exorbitant prices at Kala Bazarikar. The double mutant strain in Maharashtra was a matter of major concern. The Delhi government requested to provide additional beds in central government hospitals as was done in 2020 to help in tackling the emerging health crisis.
NCDC Director Dr. S. K. Singh presented a detailed analysis of the situation in these states. Along with the states / UTs, issues such as rising day-to-day cases in many districts, day-to-day infection rates, increase in mortality in states, emphasis on clinical infrastructure and the need for more healthcare personnel were discussed. .
State Health Ministers shared a brief snapshot of the best efforts being made, including actions taken to prevent, monitor and treat Covid infection cases. Almost all states and union territories increased the supply of oxygen cylinders; Increasing the supply of Remadecivir in hospitals; Increase ventilator stock; And raised issues such as increasing the supply of vaccine supplements.
Many of them raised the issue of connecting medical oxygen supply lines and setting prices for essential drugs such as Remadecivir, which are sold at exorbitant prices at Kala Bazarikar. The double mutant strain in Maharashtra was a matter of major concern. The Delhi government requested to provide additional beds in central government hospitals as was done in 2020 to help in tackling the emerging health crisis.
Notification of permission of States to utilize up to 50% of their annual allocation of State Disaster Response Fund by the Ministry of Home Affairs and utilization of pending balance under the National Health Mission by the Union Ministry of Health for the purposes of Covid Management till April 1, 2021 The notification of approval was reiterated.
The Union Health Secretary informed the States about the steps taken to provide medical grade oxygen in the country and increase the Remedisvir stock, which were made possible due to the meetings held in this regard by the Health Secretary, Home Secretary, DPIIT Secretary, Pharmaceuticals Secretary etc.
Various oxygen manufacturers in the country were also informed about the release of the calendar of medical oxygen supplies to the states. The steps taken for the smooth movement of oxygen cylinders from their manufacturing units in the states were also informed.
Keeping in mind the active increase in cases since last February, in which most of the states have now crossed their cap, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has asked for advance planning and handling of Covid hospitals, Appealed to increase oxygenated beds and other important infrastructure. He requested the states to pay special attention to the five-six major cities of their administration, linking the medical colleges to these cities or two-three districts adjoining them.
States were asked to identify early symptoms in infected cases so that prompt and effective treatment would prevent a deterioration in the health of the diseased person. To achieve community quarantine, a strategy to create a large container zone was also suggested. The Union Minister asked the states to coordinate INSACOG nodal officers to send clinical and epidemiological photographs to assess the genomic mutants of the copathogens and to try to link the public health scenario with the clinical picture. The Director of NCDC briefed the steps taken for genome sequencing to understand the issues related to mutant strains.
Health Ministers of States / UTs present in the High Level Review Meeting include TS Singh Dev (Chhattisgarh), Shri Satyendra Jain (Delhi), Dr. K Sudhakar (Karnataka), Dr. Prabhuram Chaudhary (Madhya Pradesh), Mr. Rajesh Tope (Maharashtra) ), Shri Jai Pratap Singh (Uttar Pradesh), Ms. KK Selja (Kerala), Dr. Raghu Sharma (Rajasthan). Health Secretaries, Additional Chief Secretaries and Principal Secretaries (Health) from all the States / UTs participated in the meeting through virtual platforms.