JOIN USCoronavirus: Fight stigma, says government as spike in COVID-19 cases continues
India's COVID-19 count went past the 50,000-mark to touch 52,910 as 3,548 fresh infections were reported on Wednesday, a sharp spike for the fifth consecutive day that prompted Health Minister Harsh Vardhan to reach out to states to fine-tune containment strategies.
Harsh Vardhan reached out to health ministers of Maharashtra and Gujarat, the worst-hit states that together account for 23,383 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with a message to tighten surveillance and make efforts to remove the stigma associated with the disease, which was leading to delay in reporting of patients.
The death toll also rose by 98 to touch 1,785 since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country on January 30.
The sudden spike in cases in these two states was attributed to patients suppressing information about infection and reporting to hospitals late, which was considered as the reason for the high mortality rate in the two states. Since May 1, Gujarat has reported an average of 30 deaths every day. For Maharashtra, the death rate was slightly higher than that of Gujarat.
He also assured the states that additional teams comprising officials from the Centre would be deployed in states as per their request.
During the review, officials noted that the delay in reporting COVID-19 symptoms to hospitals was indicative of some fear or stigma associated with the disease.
“Aggressive behaviour change communication exercise needs to be taken for removing stigma against reporting COVID-19, which shall contribute towards timely reporting, clinical management, and reduction in fatality rates,” Harshvardhan told the health ministers of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
In Maharashtra, the situation was particularly worrisome as 34 of the 36 districts of the state were reporting COVID-19 cases with population-dense regions of Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Solapur becoming a matter of concern.
The minister suggested that the state government rope in community volunteers along with the surveillance teams in the containment areas to spread awareness about the preventive measures like hand washing, physical distancing. These volunteers can also play an effective role in removing the stigma prevailing in society.
On the brighter side, so far, a total of 15,185 people have been cured, taking the total recovery rate to 28.69%.