Strategy remains the same irrespective of the variants: Dr. Harsh Vardhan

Rajesh Tope, Health Minister (Maharashtra), Dr K Sudhakar, Health Minister (Karnataka), K KShailaja, Health Minister (Kerala),  M. Subramanian, Health Minister (Tamil Nadu), Raghu Sharma, Health Minister (Rajasthan) and Satyendra Jain, Health Minister (Delhi) virtually attended the meeting.

Dr Sujeet K. Singh, Director NCDC presented the epidemiological findings and a granular analysis of the COVID trajectory in the States. He pointed out that the apparent shift of COVID-19 towards lower age groups is driven by the fact that higher age groups have been vaccinated in considerable proportion by now. He suggested the ramping up of testing and vaccination in peri-urban areas as the spread is now going to peri-urban and rural places. He cautioned against the spread of the infection to the rural areas, as the health infrastructure in the rural regions of the country is not adequately equipped to deal with the rising number of cases. He also urged the states to send samples for genome sequencing to identify the role of variants in severity and transmission.

The Union Health Minister highlighted the trajectory of COVID in these states/UT. He applauded the dedication and perseverance shown by state administrations in their fight against the pandemic and simultaneously ensuring the welfare of the people by enhancing benefits of warrior welfare schemes to the people. He said, “Although in the last 24 hours, 3.62 lakh new cases were registered, a net decline of 6,426 cases was recorded in the active caseload. At the moment we have over 37,10,525 active cases. Unfortunately we have lost 4,120 lives in the last 24 hours.”