Isolated lockdowns for two-three days is not enough to stop the spread of COVID-19: Centre to states

New Delhi, July 25: Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba told representatives of nine states at a special review meeting on Friday said two to three-day lockdowns alone are not enough to contain COVID-19. This comment by the Cabinet secretary came while cautioning against the delay in procurement of testing kits.

Gauba warned the delay might have "grave consequences" and added some states have demonstrated "the situation can be turned around" while others have "showed how it can deteriorate".

Meanwhile, it can be seen that several states have enforced lockdowns over weekends in select areas to tackle spiralling coronavirus cases.

Chief secretaries of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, West Bengal and Assam attended the meeting along with senior central government officials.

The centre also said that systematic containment and surveillance would be required along with the weekend lockdowns. It also asked the states to strengthen hospital infrastructure and clinical management.

The Cabinet secretary also pointed out delay in decisions has shown grave consequences in some cases and asked the states to ensure advance procurement plans for testing kits and other medical equipment.

According to reports, an official, who attended the meeting, said the rate of testing suddenly dropped in some states and they did not have enough antigen kits.

Meanwhile, the states were advised to ramp up testing with special focus on containment zones as sustained and aggressive testing is crucial for early identification of cases.