Centre asks Madhya Pradesh to implement 5-fold strategy to check coronavirus spread

New Delhi, Apr 15: Amid alarming rise of coronavirus cases in Madhya Pradesh, the Centre has asked the state to strengthen and enhance oxygen and ICU beds and effectively implement a five-fold strategy of "test, track, treat, follow COVID-appropriate behaviour and vaccinate" to check the spread.

The health ministry has also asked it to curb non-essential movement of large groups of people and social gatherings that could turn into super spreader events.

In a statement, the ministry said issues related to adequate availability of N95 masks, PPE kits, HCQ tablets availability, ventilator allocation, delivery and installation along with oxygen requirement and status of allocation of concentrator plants were discussed in detail in a high-level meeting.

Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla along with Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary chaired the meeting to review the status of COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh and the public health measures taken for its surveillance, containment and management by the health authorities.

Madhya Pradesh has reported nearly 13.4 per cent week-on-week increase in new COVID cases. In last two weeks, the state has seen almost 79 per cent increase in weekly new cases. It was pointed out that 44 districts in Madhya Pradesh have crossed their reported highest cases in the last 30 days with Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior and Khandwa being the most affected districts.

Granular details like testing and case analysis weekly trend in analysis in these districts was also discussed in the meeting. "In Madhya Pradesh, in contrast to the week April 7-13 in the week of March 17-23 2021, RT-PCR tests have increased to 73 per cent (from 67 per cent) while the Antigen tests has decreased to 25 per cent (from 31 per cent)," the health ministry said.

Bhalla highlighted critical bottlenecks in the state's response to COVID like shortage of beds in general and oxygenated beds in particular and other hospital infrastructure. "The state was asked to curb non-essential movement of large groups of people and social gatherings that could turn into super spreader events with an aim to prevent surge in cases and prevent mortality. The need to carry out the exercise in urban areas was particularly stressed," the health ministry said.