Centre plans to hold COVID preparedness drill on April 10, 11

NEW DELHI: Amid rising cases of COVID-19 and seasonal influenza, the government is planning a nationwide mock drill on April 10 and 11 to take stock of hospital preparedness.

According to a joint advisory issued by the Union Health Ministry and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Saturday, both public and private health facilities in all districts are expected to participate in the exercise aimed at taking stock of availability of medicines, hospital beds, medical equipment and medical oxygen.

The exact details of the mock drill shall be communicated to the states in the virtual meeting scheduled on March 27, the advisory stated.

The joint advisory highlighted that in the past several weeks, COVID-19 testing has declined in some states and the current testing levels are insufficient as compared to the standards prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO), i.e 140 tests per million.

Testing at the levels of districts and blocks also varies, with some states

heavily relying on the less sensitive rapid antigen tests.

“Hence it is critical to maintain optimum testing for COVID-19, equitably distributed across the states.

This is especially important to identify any emerging hotspots and take pre-emptive steps to curb virus transmission,” it stated.

The advisory signed by Union

Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and Director General of ICMR Dr Rajiv Bahl stated that a gradual but sustained increase in trajectory of COVID-19 cases in the country is being witnessed since mid-February.

As on date, most of the active COVID-19 cases in the country are largely being reported by a few states like Kerala (26.4 per cent), Maharashtra (21.7 per cent), Gujarat (13.9 per cent), Karnataka (8.6 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (6.3 per cent).

“While the rates of hospitalization and death due to the disease remain low, largely because of the significant coverage achieved in terms of COVID-19 vaccination rates by all states and UTS, this gradual rise in cases needs reinvigorated public health actions to contain the surge,” the advisory said.

“It would also be useful to take stock of hospital preparedness including drugs, beds including ICU beds, medical equipment, medical oxygen, capacity building of human resource on existing guidelines as well as vaccination coverage. ,” the joint advisory read.