Health ministry cautions state on high Covid positivity

Shillong, July 7: The union ministry of health has asked the state government to control the rising Covid cases.

In a letter addressed to the chief secretary MS Rao on July 6, the secretary of health, Rajesh Bhushan said that although the positivity has shown continuous decline, since past 4 weeks, ‘it is a point of concern that presently, Meghalaya is still reporting a weekly positivity of 14.05%  from June 28 till July 4”.

The centre said eight out of 11 districts are reporting a positivity of  more than 10% which is a cause for concern.

The official pointed out that the positivity should be less than 5%.

Later on Wednesday, the union home secretary chaired a meeting in New Delhi to review the Covid-19 situation in all the Northeastern states and union territories.

During the meeting, current status and trends on the active cases, Case Fatality Rate (CFR), Case Positivity Rate (CPR) and vaccination status in respect of all the UTs and NE states were discussed. It was also noted that out of 73 districts in the country with CPR above 10 percent, 46 districts are in NE states, where strict containment measures need to be taken as per extant guidelines.

The union home secretary emphasised to follow five-fold strategy of Test-Track-Treat-Vaccinate and Covid appropriate behaviour, as has been laid out in ministry of home affairs order on June 29 this year. The NE states and UTs were advised to strictly monitor the situation at district/ city level and take timely corrective measures, wherever any early sign of surge is noticed.

For those districts identified with high case positivity and higher bed occupancy, states/UTs should consider imposing restrictions in a calibrated manner. Strict enforcement of Covid  appropriate behaviour was reiterated and it was advised to involve political leaders and civil society organisations.