India reviews COVID-19 situation in states showing case surge

India's federal health ministry Saturday chaired a high-level meeting reviewing situation in Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Assam, among others in the wake of the surge in COVID-19 cases in these states, officials said, reported Xinhua.

"These states are either reporting a rise in new daily COVID-19 cases or a rise in positivity," a statement issued by the federal health ministry said. "The public health measures taken for surveillance, containment and management of COVID-19 by the health authorities in these states were also reviewed."

The meeting was chaired by a senior health ministry official, Rajesh Bhushan, and the head of country's top health research body Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Balram Bhargava was also present along with other top officials.

During the meeting, it was highlighted all districts reporting positivity rate more than 10 percent in the last few weeks need to consider strict restrictions to prevent movement of people, formation of crowds and intermingling of people to prevent spread of infection and it was forcefully underlined that any laxity at this stage will result in deterioration of the situation in these districts.

"More than 80 percent active cases in these states are reported to be in home isolation. There is need to effectively and strictly monitor these cases so that they are not intermingling and circulating in their neighborhoods, community, village, etc., and spreading the infection," the ministry said.

"The people in home isolation should be effectively monitored in such a manner to ensure that those who require hospitalization are seamlessly transferred for timely clinical treatment."

The ICMR head warned against any complacency with around 40,000 cases being reported daily since the preceding weeks.