Targeted vaccination tops Centre’s push in states displaying a surge

THE CENTRE Saturday gave seven key tips to eight states and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir which have reported a Covid surge, together with an aggressive vaccination drive in districts reporting a better variety of circumstances and efficient surveillance in monitoring super-spreader occasions.
The tips had been issued throughout a high-level assembly chaired by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba and attended by the chief secretaries of Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Telangana and Jammu & Kashmir.
The tips are: monitor mutant strains and clustering of circumstances for early hotspot identification; undertake precedence vaccination; enhance proportion of RT- PCR checks in districts having excessive fast antigen testing; concentrate on medical administration; implement strict surveillance and containment in districts with low testing; enhance general testing numbers; and, implement Covid measures by levying heavy fines and challans.
During the assembly, which was additionally attended by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and Niti Aayog member Dr V Okay Paul, an in depth presentation was made on districts with “concerning testing trends” and enhance in variety of circumstances.

“(The) Cabinet Secretary reiterated that states need to maintain a continued rigorous vigil in terms of containing the spread and not squander away the gains of the collective hard work of the last year…Need for effective testing, comprehensive tracking, prompt isolation of positive cases, and quick quarantine of close contacts were also strongly emphasised,” the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare mentioned.
According to information compiled by the Ministry, 16,488 new Covid circumstances had been registered within the final 24 hours, with 85.7 per cent of them from six states and UTs, together with Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat.

Maharashtra has reported the sharpest rise in lively circumstances within the final two weeks — from 34,449 on February 14 to 68,810 Saturday. The different states on this group throughout this era are: Punjab (2,335 to 4,222); Madhya Pradesh (1,829 to 2,518); Gujarat (1,763 to 2,136); and, Haryana (845 to 1,103).
Significantly, Kerala has now began reporting the utmost decline within the variety of lively circumstances within the final two weeks: from 63,847 on February 14 to 51,679 Saturday.
The Ministry additionally mentioned that 113 Covid-linked deaths have been reported within the final 24 hours, with 82 per cent from the six states. “Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (48). Punjab follows with 15 daily deaths and Kerala reported 14 deaths in the last 24 hours,” the Ministry mentioned.