Despite a drop in number of active Covid-19 cases, it is important to remain alert constantly. There should be no relaxation at the administrative level, said the Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. He said this while chairing a video conference to review the works being done to tackle the situation resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic here on Saturday.
Stating that the recovery rate in Uttarakhand is now more than 81 per cent, he also stressed on the need for decreasing the mortality rate. The district magistrate and chief medical officer should themselves constantly monitor the serious cases.
Addressing the officials, the CM said that considerable work has been done in the past four months to control Covid-19. This is the reason why the recovery rate is more than 81 per cent and consistently rising. The number of active cases is now around 500 but this is no time to relax. Alertness has to be maintained constantly. Rawat said that there should be no delay in payment of allowance to Asha, Anganwadi workers and other frontline workers. Regarding the situation in the state, he said that the health infrastructure has been strengthened. Ventilators, ICUs, testing machines, labs and other facilities have been enhanced considerably. However, it is also vital to constantly raise public awareness.
The wearing of mask and observance of social distancing in public places should be strictly enforced. Further, action should also be taken against those spreading false or misleading news related to Covid-19. Videos of recovered Covid patients should be made and shared on the social media to further raise public awareness, said the CM.
Addressing the officials, chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh said that any decision regarding Covid is taken after much consideration. The situation in the state is gradually improving with the condition in Uttarakhand being much better than many other States.
However, there should be no laxity in the efforts. Contact tracing should be carried out efficiently. Old persons, children and the sick who are vulnerable to Covid should be targeted and their health status should be monitored consistently. The data received should also be evaluated by the district magistrate to ascertain where there are gaps in the district so that necessary improvements can be made. Along with Covid-19, focus also has to be laid on prevention of dengue, stressed the chief secretary.
Health secretary Amit Singh Negi informed that in the past seven days, the rate of increase of Covid in Uttarakhand has been 0.56 per cent compared to the 1.28 per cent of the nation. The positivity rate in the state is 4.68 per cent compared to the nation’s average positivity rate of 6.73 per cent. Of the total positive cases in Uttarakhand, 89 per cent are in urban areas while 11 per cent are in rural areas.
The doubling rate in the state is 57.39 days compared to the national doubling rate of 23.52 days.
At present 22,601 vacant beds are available in Covid care centres. Covid facilities have 1,126 oxygen support beds, 247 ICU beds and 159 ventilators.