Tighten curbs ahead of festivals: Centre to states

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday asked the states to consider imposing local-level curbs during forthcoming festivals to prevent superspreader events. This came as 18 districts reported an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases, and India’s reproduction number (the number of people one infected person can infect) increasing to 1.2 from a low of 0.6.

“In view of upcoming festivals such as Muharram, Onam, Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Durga Puja where large public gatherings are expected, it is advised that states may actively consider imposition of local restrictions in public observation of these festivals and curb mass gatherings,” read the letter by Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan addressed to all state chief secretaries.

Meanwhile, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya wrote to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to implement measures suggested by the central team of experts led by the National Centre for Disease Control that had visited the state recently. The minister suggested that Kerala follow stringent containment measures instead of the ABCD classification of districts based on the test-positivity rate that determines the level of activities allowed.

Kerala was also asked to improve contact tracing, increase more accurate RT-PCR tests, prevent intra-house transmission from Covid-19 patients who remain in home isolation, and augment the health infrastructure. The state was also asked to send samples of all breakthrough infections to

Indian SARS-COV-2 Genomics Consortium labs for genome sequencing.

The state had the lowest seroprevalence of just over 44% as per the national study, meaning the state has one of the highest susceptible populations.

The state was also asked to send samples of all breakthrough infections for sequencing as the central team found that Pathanamthitta was reporting a high number of breakthrough infections. On Wednesday, Kerala reported 22,414 cases with a test positivity rate of 11.37% and logged 108 new deaths.

State health minister Veena George told the legislative assembly on Wednesday that the severity of the disease was on a decline and that economic activities and containment measures will need to go hand-in-hand. “Occupancy of hospital beds and oxygen beds [has] decreased considerably. Hospitals are not facing unusual rush or pressure...the severity of the disease is coming down,” she said.

THE DIRECTION COMES AHEAD OF FESTIVALS SUCH AS MUHARRAM, ONAM, GANESH CHATURTHI AND DURGA PUJA