Implement micro-containment zones to control Covid, PM tells northeast CMs

Though Assam announced a campaign to vaccinate 300,000 persons daily from June 21 and complete administration of 9 million doses in a month, it hasn’t been successful due to a shortage of doses.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said some districts of northeast were showing high test positivity rate and asked the states to rigorously implement micro-containment zone policy to ensure that Covid does not spread.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took stock of the Covid-19 situation in the Northeast by interacting with chief ministers of the region. (ANI)

“We have to be more alert and urge the public as well to do the same. In order to control the spread of the infection, we have to take steps at the micro level to contain the pandemic,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

Here are the details of his interaction with the chief ministers of different northeastern states.

ASSAM: Assam chief minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma highlighted the efforts taken to vaccinate the tea garden population at the earliest, noting the importance of containing the pandemic there.

The chief minister also informed about the status of medical oxygen production, ICU beds, oxygen beds, isolation wards etc as part of the Covid-19 treatment infrastructure in the state. He requested the Prime Minister to increase the allotment of vaccines to Assam enabling coverage of the entire population at the earliest.

Sarma said Assam had followed the ‘Testing-Tracking-Treatment’ strategy to contain the pandemic by declaring more than 6,000 micro-containment zones without going for total lockdown. Both the economy and the fight against Covid were sustained simultaneously, he said. The CM expressed confidence that Assam’s positivity rate will come down below 1% at the earliest.

Assam has been recording around 2,500 new cases and around 25-30 deaths daily for more than two weeks now. The positivity rate has been hovering between 1.5% and 2% and the state has over 19,000 active cases.

Though the state announced a campaign to vaccinate 300,000 persons daily from June 21 and complete 9 million doses in a month, it hasn’t been successful due to shortage of doses. Till Tuesday, the state has been able to administer at least one vaccine dose to 8.33 million of the state’s 23.1 million eligible persons above 18 years. At 19% vaccination, Assam has the lowest figure among all NE states.

MEGHALAYA: Chief minister Conrad K Sangma said Meghalaya felt the delay in the onset of the 2nd wave compared to the rest of the country was a blessing in disguise. “We got to prepare the required infrastructure, augment oxygen generation capacity and others in advance,” the CM said, adding, “Though the graph is plateauing down, it’s not at the rate we anticipated because of the scattered population. In the dense areas cases go up but also come down fast, but in rural areas, the cases increase slowly and come down slowly, so it is a matter of concern.”

On the vaccination front, while admitting that it was below the national average in Meghalaya, the CM optimistically said, “We are on the job to improve this and if we can achieve a target of 20 to 25 thousand doses per day, we should be able to complete the vaccination process by end of December or even early October.”

Sangma also revealed that it had received 14 oxygen plants, oxygen cylinders, concentrators and other equipment from the Central government apart from free vaccines.

918 lives have been lost in Meghalaya due to Covid-19 and the number of active cases stands at 3,964. It recorded 365 new positive cases on Tuesday and five deaths. The State with an estimated population of around 3.2 million has administered 823,404 doses including 722,976 1st doses and 100,428 2nd doses.

MANIPUR: Chief minister N Biren Singh presented the overall preparedness and preventive steps to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic and also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and others for support and cooperation at this crucial juncture. Manipur has been recording around 800 new cases daily and 10-15 deaths. The state has currently around 7,500 active cases. On the vaccination front, over 876,000 doses have been administered across the state till Monday.

TRIPURA: Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb assured that the state will do the necessary to bring the positivity rate under 5% and reduce the number of cases. The state recorded a total 70,749 Covid-19 positive cases including 714 deaths, as per state health department. A senior health official said that the state registered 400 positive cases and two deaths on an average in the past week with a 5.5% positivity rate.

On the vaccination front, the state has administered 2.733 million doses of vaccines including 2.074 million first doses and 659,043 second doses. Currently, the state has a total 190,190 doses in stock. However, the state is expected to receive 22,000 Covaxin and 50,000 Covishield doses in July.

ARUNACHAL PRADESH: Chief minister Pema Khandu said that during the past week the state recorded a case fatality ratio of 0.57%, which was the lowest among all northeastern states. He added that despite the challenging topography including vastness, and remoteness, the state was able to vaccinate around 15,000 persons daily. During the past week, the state recorded negative vaccine wastage by administering 1,700 extra doses, by saving from each vial of vaccine supplied by the Centre.

MIZORAM: Mizoram has been recording around 500 new cases daily, very high for the small state with around 1.2 million population. The state has around 4,700 active cases at present. Till Tuesday afternoon, Mizoram had administered over 695,000 doses—nearly 592,000 first doses and over 100,000 second doses.

NAGALAND: Chief minister Neiphiu Rio told the Prime Minister how the state started its first phase of unlocking from July 11 following the lockdown in May. According to the state health and family welfare department, the weekly sample positivity rate in the state has gone down to 6% in the past week. However, health officials have expressed concern that the positivity rate in capital Kohima, Mokokchung and Wokha districts were still above 10%.

The state on Tuesday reported 88 new cases, taking the state’s caseload to 26,140 including 962 active cases. Three Covid deaths on Tuesday have also sent the total number of fatalities past the 500-mark. As of July 12, the state has administered a total of 617,690 vaccination doses, with 97,752 persons having received both doses and 519,938 receiving the first dose of the vaccine.