Uttarakhand Health Secretary reviews Covid-19 situation, issues guidelines for all districts

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], December 22 (ANI): Uttarakhand Health Secretary in charge Dr. R. Rajesh Kumar on Thursday reviewed the Covid-19 situation through a virtual medium.

Chief Medical Officers of all 13 districts were also present during the virtual meeting.

While reviewing the Covid-19 situation by Health Secretary it was informed that at present, an increase in the number of Covid-19 patients has been registered in many countries of the world such as Japan, the United States of America, the Republic of Korea, Brazil, and China. The COVID-19 pandemic still remains a worldwide public health challenge.

In the meeting, Health Secretary Dr. R. Rajesh Kumar said, "There is a continuous change in the form of Covid-19 virus and from time to time, new variants are reflected as a public health problem, therefore it is important to monitor the existing variants."

He said that all the District Magistrates and Chief Medical Officers, as per the guidelines issued by the Government of India in June 2022 for the Operational Guideline for Revised Surveillance Strategy in the context of Covid-19, for early identification, isolation, testing, and management of suspected and confirmed cases of Covid-19 Officers should ensure preparation for rescue and control related to Covid-19 variant in their respective districts.

Along with this, it has also been appealed to the general public that there is no need to panic in any way and follow the guidelines given by the government from time to time.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level virtual meeting to review the COVID-19 situation and its related aspects in the county.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Health Miniter Mansukh Mandaviya, and NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer Parameswaran Iyer were among the others who participated in the meeting.

The meeting comes a day after Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya reviewed the coronavirus situation in a meeting with high-level officials. He urged people to follow COVID-appropriate behavior and get vaccinated against the virus. Emphasizing that COVID-19 is not over yet, he asked the officials to be fully geared up and strengthen surveillance.

In the last six months, India reported four cases of the BF.7 Omicron sub-variant, which is driving the current surge of infections in China.

Sources said there are currently 10 different variants of Covid-19 in the country, with the latest being BF.7.

Earlier in the day, Health Minister Mandaviya said that the government has started random RT-PCR sampling among the passengers arriving at International airports in the country amid the recent surge of Coronavirus infection in various countries including China, Japan, South Korea, France, and United States.

"We have also started the random RT-PCR sampling among passengers arriving at International airports in the country. We are committed to tackling the pandemic and are taking appropriate steps," Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in his statement in the Lok Sabha while advising the States to make sure that people wear masks, use sanitizers and maintain social distancing even during the festive and the New Year season.

He also encouraged the states to increase awareness of precautionary doses against Coronavirus.

"We are keeping an eye on the global Covid situation and are taking steps accordingly. The States are advised to increase genome-sequencing to timely identify the new variant of Covid-19," Mandaviya added. (ANI)