Step up random sampling for early detection of COVID-19: Centre

As India witnessed a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases, the Centre on Thursday asked states to step up random testing among persons suffering from severe respiratory and influenza-like illnesses in unaffected districts for early detection of infection.

According to the Health Ministry, confirmed cases of coronavirus shot up by 3,561 in a single day to touch 52,952 as of 8 am on Thursday. As many as 89 people succumbed to disease, taking the death toll to 1,783. According to the DH COVID-19 Tracker, the total number of confirmed cases rose to 56,329 at 11 pm on Thursday.

Follow live developments on the coronavirus pandemic here

Health Minister Harshvardhan on Thursday asked state governments to step up surveillance for Covid-19 among patients with severe acute respiratory illnesses (SARI) and influenza-like illnesses (ILI) to avoid surprises. “At least 250 random tests should be conducted among SARI/ILI cases in unaffected districts,” he told health ministers of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha and West Bengal during video conferencing meetings.

CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH

“Such measures will help to indicate the presence of any possible hidden infection at an early stage thus helping in its timely containment,” he said, pointing out that Karnataka had tested 1,500 to 2,000 random samples to check the spread of the disease. Review meetings showed that Centre's directions on managing the outbreak did not trickle down to district magistrates, which was one of the reasons for the recent spikes in cases.

During the review meetings, it emerged that the directions issued by the Centre from time to time on management of the outbreak had not percolated down to district magistrates, which was also one of the reasons for the spike in cases over the past few days.

Maharashtra and Gujarat have emerged as the worst-hit states which together account for 23,383 cases, a whopping 44% of the total cases across the country.

The Centre has dispatched a team of senior officials and public health experts to 20 worst-hit districts of the country to fine-tune the response to arrest the spread of the disease.

The situation in Uttar Pradesh appears to be under control, but 68 out of the 75 districts of the state have reported COVID-19 cases. The state is expected to receive migrant workers over the next few days, prompting Harshvardhan to urge the state minister to ensure proper quarantine arrangements.

On the positive side, Harshvardhan noted that the 15,267 patients had recovered from Covid-19, taking the recovery rate to 28.8%, a steady increase over the past few days.

He said the fatality rate at 3.3% was among the lowest in the world. The minister also pointed out that only 1.1% of all COVID-19 patients were on ventilators, 3.3% on medical oxygen and 4.8% on ICU beds.

India has also ramped up testing capabilities to conduct 95,000 tests every day across its network of 327 state-run and 118 private laboratories.