Five districts in Rajasthan under Centre’s radar for surge in Covid cases

JAIPUR: As the state breached the 10,000 mark in Covid-19 cases three days ago, five districts have been found to be witnessing a surge in virus cases. They are among the 38 districts from 10 states across the country that are reporting cases in increased numbers. Last month, Jodhpur and Jaipur had been identified among 20 districts reporting the maximum number of cases.
All these five districts have witnessed widespread infection in densely populated urban areas, within places that shared public amenities as well as in rural areas from the return of migrants. The Centre has directed these districts to conduct house-to-house surveys, prompt testing, followed by prompt isolation and clinical management of cases and implement containment strategy to the full.

“Pali, Jhalawar, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Nagaur are the five districts of the state identified by the Centre. These districts have been identified for the high number of cases in the past two weeks,” said Rohit Kumar Singh, additional chief secretary (health).
So far, Jodhpur has reported 1,879 cases and 23 deaths, Pali 602 cases and seven deaths, Nagaur 503 cases and nine deaths, Udaipur 587 cases and one death, and Jhalawar 329 cases and no death. The spike in cases is also because of migrants who returned testing positive for the virus in these districts.
Officials of all the five districts attended a high-level review meeting through video conferencing with Preeti Sudan, health secretary, and Rajesh Bhushan, OSD of ministry of health and family welfare, along with senior officers of the Union health ministry.
District collectors, municipal commissioners, chief medical officers, superintendent of district hospitals and principal of medical colleges from 45 municipalities/municipal corporations across 38 districts in 10 states, including Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh, were also present.
A health department official said that the Centre has also advised on measures to be taken in the containment zones for case management and surveillance activities in buffer zones. The districts have been asked to prevent movement of people from containment zones to other areas for reducing the chances of the spread.
Also, there are some among the 38 districts, which have witnessed high case fatality rate (deaths per 100 positive cases). They have been told to reduce the fatality rate.
The health department official said that the Centre has advised officials to identify high-risk groups and elderly people with comorbidities to prevent deaths.
It has expressed the need for contact tracing, active surveillance measures and adequate testing for timely detection of cases. Timely shifting of patients should be ensured without escalating symptoms.
Areas that need constant attention included active house-to-house survey for timely detection, augmentation of survey teams, efficient ambulance management, clinical management of the hospitalised cases through rotational 24x7 teams to ensure the reduction in fatality rates. They were also advised to ensure that test results were given by labs without delays.