To assess the preparedness of hospitals for the rising COVID-19 cases in the country, a nationwide mock drill will be held on April 10 and 11. Both public and private healthcare facilities are expected to participate in the drill. Union Health Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya, in a review meeting on April 7, Mandaviya, urged the state health ministers, principal and additional chief secretaries to visit hospitals and oversee the mock drills. He had also advised them to review the preparedness with district administrations and health officials.
Need to Identify Emergency Hotspots
During the review meeting, Mandaviya had stressed the need to identify emergency hotspots by monitoring trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases, ramping up testing and vaccination, and ensuring readiness of hospital infrastructure. He had emphasized creating awareness about following COVID-appropriate behavior. The states and union territories were also informed that currently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is closely tracking a variant of interest (VOI), XBB.1.5, and six other variants are under monitoring.
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Omicron and Sub-lineages Remain Predominant Variants
It was highlighted in the meeting that while Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the predominant variants, most of the assigned variants have little or no significant transmissibility, disease severity, or immune escape. The prevalence of XBB.1.16 increased from 21.6% in February to 35.8% in March. However, no evidence of an increase in hospitalization or mortality has been reported.
States Urged to Increase Testing and Share of RT-PCR in Tests
During the meeting, it was observed that 23 states and union territories had average tests per million below the national average. Mandaviya had said that irrespective of the new variants, the five-fold strategy of ‘Test-Track-Treat-Vaccinate and adherence to Covid-Appropriate Behaviour’ continues to remain the tested strategy for COVID management. States and union territories were requested to expeditiously increase the rate of testing from 100 tests per million as of the week ending April 7. They were further advised to increase the share of RT-PCR in tests.
State Reports 328 New COVID-19 Cases
Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported 328 new COVID-19 cases on April 10, taking the total cases to 79,97,130. The active caseload rose to 4,667. Mumbai reported the highest number of cases with 228 infections, followed by 50 cases in Pune, 18 in Nagpur, 10 in Akola, eight in Latur, and five each in Nashik and Kolhapur. The fatality rate in the state stands at 1.82%, and the recovery rate at 98.12%.
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With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the country, states have been given instructions to conduct mock drill to assess hospital preparedness comes as a necessary measure. Concerned officials have been advised to ramp up testing and vaccination, increase the share of RT-PCR in tests, and ensure that the hospitals are adequately prepared to tackle the pandemic.
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