States told to follow negative rapid antigen tests by RT-PCR as Corona infections rise

Five states/UTs have weekly positivity rate more than the national average. The national average is 1.79%. Maharashtra has highest weekly positivity rate with 8.10%.
Covid 19

TLI Staff

New Delhi: Amid spike in Coronavirus cases in few cities, the Centre has asked concerned states to intensify surveillance and follow all negative Rapid Antigen Test results by RT-PCR to contain the spread of infections.

With weekly positivity rate moving beyond the national average of 1.79% in these states, the Centre has also advised the local governments to go for strict containment in affected districts and monitor the mutant strains through testing followed by Genome Sequencing.

The states are required to focus on clinical management in districts reporting higher deaths.

Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Chandigarh have seen the number of coronavirus cases rising sharply in the last few weeks.

Maharashtra has seen the maximum number of daily infections in recent weeks. In the last four weeks, the weekly cases have shown a rising trend and have increased from 18,200 to 21,300. The areas of concern are the Mumbai Suburban areas where the weekly cases have risen by 19%. Other cities witnessing the spike in numbers are Nagpur, Amravati, Nashik, Akola and Yavatmal where weekly cases have increased by 33%, 47%, 23%, 55% and 48%, respectively.

In the last four weeks in Kerala, the average weekly cases have fluctuated between a high of 42,000 to a low of 34,800.

In Kerala, the district of Alappuzha is a cause of special concern where the weekly positivity rate has increased to 10.7% and weekly cases have increased to 2,833.

“Five states/UTs have weekly positivity rate more than the national average. The national average is 1.79%. Maharashtra has highest weekly positivity rate with 8.10%,” said a statement from Health Ministry.

India has been witnessing a rise in the active caseload over the past few days. India’s total active caseload is pegged at 1,45,634 today. It now consists of 1.32% of India’s total positive cases.

As per official data, more than 74% of the active cases of the country are in Kerala and Maharashtra. Of late it is seen that there has been a spike in the daily cases in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh also. Punjab and J&K too are witnessing a surge in daily new cases.

Meanwhile, vaccine shots against the deadly virus are being administered across the country. As on 18th February, 2021, a total of 1,10,85,173 vaccine doses have been administered through 2,30,888 sessions. These include 63,91,544 HCWs (1st dose), 9,60,642 HCWs (2nd dose) and 37,32,987 FLWs (1st dose).

“The 2nd dose of COVID19 vaccination started on 13th February, 2021 for those beneficiaries who have completed 28 days after receipt of the 1st dose. Vaccination of the FLWs started on 2nd Feb 2021,” the Health ministry press note said.

Image source: Twitter/UNICEF

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