Covid-19: Now, UP, Chhattisgarh are the new worries

With more than one lakh active cases each and a high case positivity rate, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh—two states with poor health infrastructure—are the Centre’s new worries on the Covid-19 front.

In the last two weeks, Chhattisgarh saw a 131% increase in weekly new cases. While 22 out of 27 districts crossed their reported highest cases in the last 30 days, the worst-affected districts are Raipur, Durg, Rajnandgaon and Bilaspur.

Worryingly, the share of RT-PCR tests decreased to 28% in the week of April 7-13 from the level of 34% reported in the March 17-23 week. The share of rapid antigen tests increased from 53% to 62% in the same period.

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This goes completely against the central government's advice of carrying out at least 70% of the tests using the gold-standard RT-PCR method.

Similarly, Uttar Pradesh reported a growth rate of 19.25% in daily new cases. Forty-six out of 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh crossed their reported highest cases in the last 30 days with Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi and Prayagraj being the worst affected districts.

The share of RT-PCR tests has decreased to 46% in the week of April 7-13 (from 48% reported between March 17 and 23) while the number of rapid antigen tests increased to 53% (from 51%) in the corresponding period.

Experts have pointed out that the share of testing in the two states has not grown corresponding to the rise in the caseload.

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At a high-level meeting to review the Covid-19 situations in the two states, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla and Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan told the state officials that their demand for oxygen cylinders (including 10-litre cylinders and 45-litre jumbo cylinders) and demand for additional ventilators (having high flow nasal cannula) would be met very soon.

Both states have been advised to increase dedicated Covid-19 beds and use available buildings in hospital campuses (including AIIMS, Raipur campus) for the creation of additional dedicated wards. Moreover, the states have been advised to prohibit unnecessary travel and crowding in public places through strict and effective enforcement.

A day before a similar review was held for Madhya Pradesh, which is also witnessing a sharp rise in the Covid-19 cases over the past week.