Centre to review Covid-19 situation in meet with northeast states today

Responsible for more than 62% of the country's 77 districts with high Covid-19 case positivity rates, the northeast region is now at the focus of the central government's attempts to tackle the coronavirus disease pandemic.

Days after sending coronavirus disease (Covid-19) control teams to northeast India, the central government is ready to review the ground situation regarding the pandemic management in the region. The Union ministry of home affairs called a virtual meeting on Wednesday, according to officials familiar with the development, where home secretary Ajay Bhalla will be discussing the Covid-19 situation with officials from Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, and Manipur.

Indian Jewish people, members of the Bnei Menashe, or the Children of Menashe, one of the "lost tribes of Israel" from India's northeastern state of Manipur, suffering from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), lie on their beds at a coronavirus care facility, inside a Gurudwara or a Sikh Temple, in New Delhi, India. (REUTERS/Adnan Abidi)

Responsible for more than 62% of the country's 77 districts with high Covid-19 case positivity rates, the northeast region is now at the focus of the central government's attempts to tackle the coronavirus disease pandemic. Central teams, based on whose assessment the government will suggest remedial measures, were earlier sent to those states showing an increasing trend in infection. The two-member high-level team to these states consisted of a clinician and a public health expert.

The teams were dispatched to six states on an immediate basis. They were expected to monitor the overall implementation of Covid-19 management, especially in testing, surveillance, and containment operations. Among these six states were Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, and Manipur -- all of which have shown a recent uptick in coronavirus cases.

It is likely that the home ministry meet today will focus on the assessment conducted by these central teams and suggest remedial measures for the issues in pandemic management that the states are facing -- especially in the availability of hospital beds, ambulances, ventilators, and medical oxygen, as well as Covid-19 vaccination progress.

As an ongoing effort to strengthen the efforts of various state governments in dealing with Covid-19 cases, the central government has in the past deputed control teams from time to time to visit various states and Union territories. These teams interact with the local authorities and get a "first-hand understanding" of the challenges and issues being faced by the administration, said an official release.