Covid-19 mock drills on the anvil

1 min read . Updated: 23 Dec 2022, 10:08 PM IST Priyanka Sharma

Mandaviya will personally visit hospitals in Delhi to take stock of how the mock drills were being conducted.

NEW DELHI : Amid an explosion of covid-19 cases in China and a sharp rise in cases in the US, among other countries, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday directed state governments to conduct mock drills in all hospitals to ensure that covid-appropriate infrastructure is in place to ward off any threat of a fourth wave.

The recent spike in cases in China is being attributed to the more virulent and contagious Omicron BF.7 variant, which is a sub-lineage of BA.5. China National Health Commission said the R0, or reproduction rate, of the variant was at 16, indicating a high transmissibility rate.

However, scientists said the BF.7 has been present in India since September-end and, so far, three cases were detected. India has not reported a rise in hospitalizations or deaths due to BF.7. Experts said there is no need to panic, but people must wear masks in crowded places during the Christmas and New Year celebrations, and follow covid-appropriate behaviour.

“We have directed for conducting mock drills across all health facilities and ensure operational readiness of covid dedicated facilities with focus on oxygen plants, ventilators, logistics and human resources. Mock drills will be conducted on Tuesday, 27 December." Mandaviya will personally visit hospitals in Delhi to take stock of how the mock drills were being conducted. “There has been decline in covid-19 cases in the country, with only five states accounting for 78% of the daily new cases reported as on date. But the constant rise in global daily average cases since the last six weeks with more than 576,000 cases on 21 December is a concern. Eight states and four UTs currently have zero reported active cases. There is also a week-on-week decline in the positivity rate," said a health ministry official.

On covid-19 vaccination, Mandaviya said over 2.2 billion doses have been administered. As per data, 1.03 billion (97%) units were administered for the first dose, 950 million (90%) for the second dose, and 220 million (27%) booster dose was given to the eligible population aged 12 years and above.

However, there was a need to boost precautionary doses. “Over 60% of elderly population above 60, 78% in the age group of 18-59 years, or 73% of the population above the age of 18 are yet to take the booster shots," Mandaviya said.

The Centre has already directed for enhanced surveillance across states via Health facility-based Sentinel Surveillance; Pan-respiratory Virus Surveillance; Community-based Surveillance; Sewage/wastewater Surveillance. Directions have also been given to ramp up testing and Whole Genome Sequencing to track any new variant.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Priyanka Sharma

Priyanka Shamra is a health and pharma journalist with nearly nine years of field reporting experience. She is a special correspondent with Mint. Her beat includes covering the Ministry of Health and Department of Pharmaceuticals. She also covers the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Department of Biotechnology.