Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy on Thursday held discussions on the COVID-19 situation in the Union Territory with chief scientist of the World Health Organisation Soumya Swaminathan at the Legislative Assembly.
Mr. Narayanasamy said Dr. Swaminathan had stressed on the need to strengthen contact tracing, testing and isolation as the key to winning the battle against the virus.
Quoting the chief scientist, the Chief Minister said the virus would be active for several months. The only way to flatten the curve was to do more testing, contact tracing and then isolating the patient, he said.
“Lockdown cannot be a permanent strategy to deal with the pandemic. The administration could deploy more number of people for contact tracing,” Dr. Swaminathan suggested.
Chief Secretary Ashwani Kumar and District Collector-cum-Health Secretary T. Arun were present.
Bedi’s message
Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi, in a message, said Dr. Swaminathan in a conversation with her during the visit to Puducherry suggested that students who passed out from high school could be deployed for contact tracing so that paramedical staff were spared for healthcare.
The Chief Scientist said home quarantine would not work in compact homes as other members of the family faced the risk of infection. They need a separate place to be isolated, Ms. Bedi said in her message.
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