Test more, trace all Covid +ve contacts in 72 hrs: PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday practically put Telangana state — along with a few other states — on notice, saying that it needs to increase its
Covid-19 testing. Modi also stressed on the importance of tracing every contact of every single person being identified as Covid19 positive “within 72 hours”.
During a video conference with Chief Ministers of 10 states — those of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, apart from TS — Modi said 80 per cent of all active Covid-19 cases were now in these states.
Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao attended the video conference, and explained the steps being taken by the state to control Covid-19 and made suggestions to the Centre on what it needs to do, in partnership with all states, for ensuring effective healthcare to people and be prepared for events such as the current Covid19 pandemic.
Modi emphasised the need to not just trace all contacts of all Covid-19 cases but also “test all those who had come in contact with an infected person within 72 hours. This should be followed like a mantra, with the same earnestness as washing hands, maintaining ‘do gaz doori’, and wearing of masks.”
Modi said the roadmap prepared by Union home minister Amit Shah for tackling the pandemic together with Delhi and nearby states, with stress on segregation of containment zones and focus on screening, especially of those in high risk category, has shown results that are there for everyone to see.
The Prime Minister said better management in hospitals and increasing ICU beds also proved very helpful, in Delhi and nearby states.
Though Telangana state did increase testing from about 5,000 a few weeks ago to up to a peak of more than 20,000 a day, Modi’s clubbing of the state with nine others with high positivity rates of Covid-19 cases, along with his call for mandatory contact tracing, and containment measures, are expected to present some challenges to the government.
Though the state had initially enforced containment measures, closing off localities where Covid-19 cases were found, this practice has more or less been given up.
In fact, in the GHMC limits, largely comprising Hyderabad city, the authorities have left it to the local residents to take up Covid-19 control, putting out data on locations of cases being found on the GHMC website and asking residents of such areas to play a role in disease containment.
It is reliably learnt that the authorities have practically given up on contact tracing of Covid-19 positive persons with officials more than once expressing helplessness in continuing with the process in the face of ever-increasing cases that has stretched available resources beyond their limits.
India, among the world’s top 20 countries in coronavirus cases, however, ranks 17th in conducting tests. It is testing only 18,000 people per million, and only Pakistan, Mexico and Bangladesh are behind it in testing terms. Britain and the US test 2.70 lakh and two lakh people per million. Modi said it was a matter of satisfaction that the average fatality rate in India has been going down and noted that it has been very low compared to the world average.