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'Within 3 days': Centre's order to states on tracking contacts of Covid patients
“We are also asking states if the number of cases is on the rise, then why the number of containment zones is not going up,” the secretary said.
The Union health ministry has asked all states and Union territories to step up their tracking and testing mechanism and said at least 30 close contacts of a Covid-19 infected person should be tested, isolated within 72 hours. This is nothing new, but states have been lagging in contact tracing, health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday held a video conference with the heads of states and Union territories and urged the authorities that this second peak needs to be stopped.
“Close contacts do not mean only family members. Close contacts are people with whom we are counteracting daily. They may be our officer workers, our newspaper vendor, our vegetable vendor. This was done last year. But now district administrations have become lax and are only testing family members just for the sake of it. As a result, other close contacts are moving freely spreading the infection to more people,” Rajesh Bhushan said.
'We have to stop Covid-19 second wave': PM Modi's 5-point plan to states, UTs
“We are also asking states if the number of cases is on the rise, then why the number of containment zones is not going up,” the secretary said.
Urging states to minimise reliance on antigen test and increase RT-PCR tests, the secretary said at least 70 per cent of tests should be RT-PCR, but states have even less than 40 per cent of RT-PCR share.
In his meeting with state and UT heads, PM Modi too emphasised the point of increasing RT-PCR tests and said states like Kerala, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh are largely dependent on rapid antigen tests, but it is not the ideal scenario, as the country has adequate infrastructure for RT-PCR tests.
“PM Modi's meeting with the states has been the most significant development of the day. Emerging second peak has to be addressed with confidence. There is no need to panic. We have tools. It is time to combine all these tools and find a way out. This is what PM Modi said,” Niti Aayog (health) member VK Paul said.
