By Firstdespatch Desk Apr 19, 2023
Agartala, Apr 19 (FD) With detection of 10 new COVID-19 cases in Tripura in last four days, the state government has issued a advisories to contain the transmission of the virus including mandatory COVID test for the People arriving in the state from states that have reported a high positivity rate.
These states are Kerala, Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, he said.
"All domestic incoming passengers from the states with high COVID-positivity rate shall have to be mandatorily tested on their arrival at the airport, railway stations and the Churaibari check gate," the official said.
Wearing masks in hospitals has been made a must, he said.
Screenings will also be conducted at all public places, he added.
The state has reported 10 new COVID-19 cases since April 14, the official said.
"There shall be a continued focus on a five-fold strategy -- test, track, treat, vaccinate and adherence of COVID appropriate behavior," he said.
The Health and Family Welfare Department has already issued an advisory, asking people to avoid crowded and poorly-ventilated places.
India has logged 10,542 new corona virus infections, while the active cases have increased to 63,562, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.
The death toll has increased to 5,31,190 with 38 new fatalities.
In a memorandum issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department of the state government, a Deputy Secretary informed that the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare drew attention of the state's to gradual increase in COVID19 cases trajectory in the country, especially in states like Kerala, Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu where a majority of COVID cases are being reported
"In Tripura too, 10 new cases have been detected from the April 14 onwards. So, there shall have to be continued focus.... to contain the COVID19 transmission", the memorandum issued on Tuesday evening said.
As per the COVID bulletin issued by the Health Department this morning, Tripura now has 11 active COVID patients, one of whom was identified in the last 24 hours from West Tripura district. The state currently has a 0.15 percent positivity rate.
Among the major advisories issued to avert any further spread of the corona virus, the state government stressed on strict adherence to the "Five Fold Strategy" i.e. test, track, treat, vaccinations and adherence of COVID19 appropriate behavior of wearing mask, maintaining hand hygiene and physical distancing, mandatory wearing of masks by doctors, paramedics and other healthcare workers as well as patients and their attendants within health care facilities etc.
The advisory has also mandated healthcare personnel and experts to monitor trends of Acute Respiratory Illness (ARI), Influenza like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) cases in all the health facilities on a regular basis and ensure its reporting on the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) portal.
The COVID-19 advisory that was issued to all District Magistrates and Collectors, asked to ensure that all healthcare experts were instructed to maintain adequate level of testing (ARI/ILI/SARI cases, New Clusters, Contacts of positive cases) in the districts while maintaining the recommended proportion of RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) along with undertaking necessary steps in areas reporting high case positivity.
All DMs and Collectors were instructed to ensure that all domestic incoming passengers from states with high positivity rate like Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu etc should have to be mandatorily tested by Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) or RT-PCR in major arrival points like the Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport, Railway Stations or the Churaibari Check Post on the Assam-Tripura inter-state boundary if they were to travel by road.
Screening through testing in all the public places like Government Offices, Schools, Colleges, Marketplaces, etc were prioritized as well along with sending adequate COVID19 positive samples for Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) to VRDL lab of the Microbiology Department of the Agartala Government Medical College (AGMC).
The advisory has also instructed to strengthen health facilities in terms of availability of required drugs and logistics for management of COVID-19 cases.
In order to limit the transmission of COVID-19, the health advisory has also stressed on raising community awareness.
These basically involves COVID-appropriate behavior like avoiding overcrowded and poorly ventilated settings particularly by persons having co-morbidities and the elderly, wearing masks in crowded settings, maintaining hand hygiene and frequent washing of hands, avoiding spitting in public places, encouraging early reporting of symptoms, limiting personal contact with anyone suffering from respiratory diseases etc. FD JK