Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Thursday reviewed the Covid-19 situation in Kerala and Maharashtra, both of which have seen a spike in infections in the last couple of days.
During the meeting, the overall management of the Covid-19 situation in Kerala and Maharashtra was discussed. Of the 46,164 new cases reported in the country in the last 24 hours, 31,445 were reported from Kerala while 5,031 cases were reported from Maharashtra.
Bhalla, while reviewing the efforts being made by the state governments to contain the spread of infections, observed that more effort would be required to arrest the spike in infections, according to a statement by the ministry of home affairs.
“This would require adequate intervention in geographical areas having higher infection, thorough measures such as contact tracing, vaccination drives and Covid-19 appropriate behaviour,” MHA said
Bhalla also suggested that the state governments should explore the possibility of placing night curfew in areas of high positivity.
“The state governments were advised that they should continue with their vaccination programmes and in case they required more vaccines, the same would be provided to the extent possible. However, efforts must be made to utilise the vaccine doses received,” it added.
{{/usCountry}}“The state governments were advised that they should continue with their vaccination programmes and in case they required more vaccines, the same would be provided to the extent possible. However, efforts must be made to utilise the vaccine doses received,” it added.
{{/usCountry}}It was also emphasized that along with vaccination, Covid-19 appropriate behaviour must also continue to be encouraged and events with the potential of having mass gatherings during the coming festive season must be avoided. “It was also advised that testing must be ramped up in areas in the two states where positivity rates are being found to be on the higher side. Focus should also be placed over the next few months to suppress the levels of transmission of the virus so that the chain of transmission can be controlled more effectively.”
Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Dr VK Paul (member health Niti Aayog), chief secretaries and police chiefs of both the states attended the meeting.