Maharashtra: Seven-point action plan formed to contain COVID-19
To check the spike in COVID-19 cases, the Maharashtra Health Department has come up with a seven-point action plan, including testing of close contacts, fast contact-tracing, mass testing in hot-spots, and audit of deaths. All district administrations have been directed to act upon these points immediately, as per a letter dated March 3 by the Health Department's Principal Secretary Dr. Pradeep Vyas.
Action plan was formulated noticing the rise in COVID-19 cases
The action plan includes strict adherence to guidelines in social, political, and religious gatherings, and involve civil societies and religious leaders to motivate people to adopt COVID-19-appropriate behavior. The action plan has been prepared following observations of a team from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which visited Nagpur, Amravati, Yavatmal, Thane, Pune, and Mumbai, where a spike in cases was observed.
Maharashtra has reported over 52K deaths till now
The COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra have been on the rise since the second week of February. On Tuesday, the state reported 9,927 new COVID-19 cases which took the caseload to 22,38,398, while 56 fatalities pushed up the death count to 52,556, as per official data.
Districts have been asked to activate isolation facilities
In the letter issued to district collectors, Dr. Vyas said, "Though the central team observed the mentioned districts, a similar situation might be prevailing in other districts. Hence, all the district administrations need to act on these strategies." The districts have been asked to activate institutional isolation facilities as there is no proper mechanism to monitor patients in home isolation on a day-to-day basis.
Close contacts of patient should be traced within 48 hours
Authorities have been instructed that as the test report of a patient's close contact in the incubation period is likely to be negative, the test needs to be repeated around the fifth to the seventh day of the exposure. The person may be kept in institutional quarantine. "Most of the close contacts of the patient should be traced within 48 hours," the letter stated.
Carry out enough tests to eliminate hotspots
The central team suggested universal testing of every person using a large number of rapid antigen tests if sufficient RT-PCR test capacity is not available in COVID-19 hotspots. If required, these tests may be repeated after 14 days so that hotspots could be eliminated.
Scrupulously follow the guidelines for marriages and other gatherings
Authorities have also been asked to strengthen the death audit mechanism at the level of health institutions and medical colleges to find out gaps in the treatment protocols. To check crowds, district administrations and civic bodies have been asked to scrupulously follow the guidelines for marriages and other social, political, and religious gatherings to curb the spread of COVID-19.
