Centre flags rising COVID-19 positivity rate in five states; asks them to monitor clustering of cases

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The Centre on April 8 shot letters to five states which had reported a rise in COVID-19 test positivity rate during last week, when compared to the previous week, and asked them to keep an eye on the clustering of cases.

In separate letters written to Kerala, Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana and Mizoram, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan also pointed out that they are reporting a higher number of daily coronavirus cases as compared to others.

The letter written to Kerala highlighted that it has reported 2,321 new cases in the last week ending April 8, accounting for 31.8 percent of India’s new cases while the test positivity rate has risen from 13.45 percent to 15.53 percent.

In the communique sent to Mizoram, Bhushan pointed out that the state had registered 814 new cases last week, accounting for 11.16 percent of India’s new caseload while the test positivity rate rose from 14.38 percent to 16.48 percent.

Maharashtra, on the other hand according to the letter, had reported 794 new COVID-19 cases in the week ending April 8, contributing 10.9 percent of India’s caseload while the positivity rate grew from 0.39 percent t0 0.43 percent.

Bhushan also wrote that Haryana had seen the positivity rate rising from 0.51 to 1.06 percent while in the case of Delhi, this rate had grown from 0.51 percent to 1.25 percent.

“States are advised to monitor clusters of new COVID-19 cases and required (to carry out) containment efforts for curbing the spread of infection,” the letters sent to these states said.

“It is essential that the state must maintain a strict watch and take pre-emptive action if required in any areas of concern to control any emerging spread of infection,” wrote Bhushan.

“Testing and surveillance still remain important to track the virus, its spread and evolution. Laxity at any level may nullify the gains in pandemic management so far.”

Daily new COVID-19 cases in India have come down significantly over the last several weeks and have been hovering around 1,200 for many days but on April 8, there was a 7 percent rise in daily cases and 8 states and UTs reported a rise in active cases.