New Delhi: Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya is scheduled to chair a review meeting with the core team of experts on Thursday (June 23, 2022) amid rising COVID-19 cases in the country. According to a report in news agency ANI, Mandaviya will review the COVID situation with the core team of experts in the meeting and discuss the spike in the number of COVID cases in the country. Sources have also confirmed that the meeting will be held in physical format this afternoon.
India has been witnessing a spike in daily Covid cases for the past few days. After a decline on Tuesday, India again registered an increase on Wednesday with 12,249 fresh Covid infections.
Earlier, on June 13, Mandaviya chaired a meeting through video conferencing with health ministers and senior officials of states and union territories (UTs) to review the progress of the vaccination exercise Harghar Dastak 2.0 campaign.
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“COVID is not over yet. There are reports of increasing cases of COVID in some states. At this time be vigilant and don’t forget about COVID Appropriate Practices (CAB), such as wearing a mask and maintaining physical distance to prevent its spread Could infection”, he had insisted.
In the meeting, the Union Health Minister had also highlighted the increase in case positivity and lowering of COVID-19 testing in some districts and states. He had stressed that timely testing would lead to early identification of COVID cases and would help in preventing the spread of infection in the community.
Additionally, Mandaviya had urged the States/UTs to continue surveillance and focus on genome sequencing to identify new mutants/variants in the country. He said that the five-pronged strategy of Test, Track, Treat, Vaccinate and Adhere to COVID Appropriate Practices (CAB) needs to be continued and monitored by the States/UTs.
Emphasizing on the importance of COVID vaccination among vulnerable age groups, he urged the state health ministers to personally review the status and progress of the special month-long Har Ghar Dastak 2.0 campaign that began on June 1.
“Let us accelerate our efforts to identify all beneficiaries aged 12-17 for the first and second doses, so that they can go to schools with the protection of the vaccine,” Mandaviya had said.
“Our health workers are going door-to-door to ensure that the vulnerable population is given a precautionary dose”, he said.
(with agency input)