Centre shares containment plan

Thiruvananthapuram: The Union health ministry issued containment plan to all state governments to prevent a large outbreak of Covid-19. The ministry asked states to expand their lab capacities and test all suspect samples. As per the advisory, a large outbreak is ‘deemed to be present when there are 15 or more cases in a village, city or town’.
The plan also suggested that people with influenza-like illness should be tested even if they do not have a travel history. It also directed that all health workers and contacts should be given hydroxychloroquine.
It stressed on the need for expanding lab capacity to test all suspect samples, close contacts and people with symptoms of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI). "Testing all suspect cases, symptomatic contacts, asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of a confirmed case and ILI/ SARI cases are necessary," states the containment plan.
Experts had pointed out that it is high time that Kerala increased its testing. "At present, Kerala stands much below the national average in testing samples. Apart from this, all people coming with ILI symptoms at the primary level should be tested. Only those with travel history and ILI symptoms are being tested now. We have to increase testing among people with ILIs at the primary level to prevent the spread," said internal medicine expert Dr Arun NM.
The advisory on large outbreak containment said that a large area of operation must be defined and strict perimeter control has to be implemented. Active search of cases, early isolation, contact listing and tracking, quarantine and follow up of contacts are essential.
A large outbreak is defined as localized increase in the incidence of Covid-19 cases occurring within a defined geographic area; say a village, town, or city. This could also imply progression of a small cluster (earlier noticed for which cluster management action is under implementation) into multiple clusters. The cases may or may not be epidemiologically linked, said the advisory.
It also stressed on the need for geographic quarantine strategy for near-absolute interruption of movement of people to and from a relatively-large defined geographic area where there is single large outbreak or multiple foci of local transmission. A barrier should be erected around the focus of infection.