Increased and timely testing, according to Mansukh Mandaviya, would allow for early detection of patients and assist in slowing the spread of COVID-19 in the population.
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According to the health ministry, Mansukh Mandaviya, the union health minister, met with state and union territory health ministers and urged them to focus on increasing COVID-19 vaccination coverage for schoolchildren, providing a preventive dose for the elderly, and strengthening genome sequencing.
COVID-19 is still going on. “With COVID-19 instances on the rise in certain areas, it’s critical to stay vigilant and remember COVID-appropriate behavior,” Mandaviya reminded the states during the review conference.
Mandaviya claimed that expanded and timely testing would enable early identification of infections and prevent the spread of the illness among the population, citing increasing case positives in several districts and states and lower COVID-19 testing.
“He asked states/UTs to maintain and improve monitoring, with an emphasis on genome sequencing to find novel mutants/variants across the country,” he said. “He said that states/UTs must maintain and monitor the five-fold approach of testing, tracking, treating, immunization, and adherence to COVID Appropriate Behavior (CAB),” the ministry said in a statement.
States were also asked to focus on adopting the operational instructions for the new COVID-19 surveillance strategy, which focuses on monitoring arriving foreign travelers and surveillance through health institutions, labs, and communities, among other things.
“He requested state health ministers to personally assess the status and development of the special month-long campaign Har Ghar Dastak 2.0,” he said, emphasizing the necessity of immunization among vulnerable age groups.
“Let us speed our efforts to find all beneficiaries in the 12-17 age bracket for the first and second doses so that they may attend schools with the vaccine’s protection,” Mandaviya added.
The meeting was attended by state health ministers Sapam Ranjan Singh (Manipur), Alo Libang (Arunachal Pradesh), Thanneeru Harish Rao (Telangana), Anil Vij (Haryana), Rushikesh Ganeshbhai Patel (Gujarat), Banna Gupta (Jharkhand), Mangal Pandey (Bihar), Rajesh Tope (Maharashtra), Prabhuram Choudh.
