GoM reviews management strategy for COVID-19 hotspots, clusters

The Group of Ministers (GoM) on COVID-19 on Friday reviewed the management strategy for coronavirus hotspots and clusters, and the availability of testing kits in the country. The GoM, which is headed by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, was informed by officials that 170 districts are being put in the 'red zone' (hotspots) category. These include 123 districts that have reported large outbreaks and 47 districts that have COVID-19 clusters. 

There are 207 non-hotspot districts with clusters and 353 districts are in the 'green zone as they have no coronavirus cases, a health ministry statement said, adding that the GoM also reviewed the testing strategy.

"If no case is reported in the last 14 days then the red zone district will be placed under orange zone and further no case is reported in the next 14 days then that district will come under green zone," it said.

The GoM was also apprised that as of now the COVID-19 death rate is around three per cent while the recovery rate is around 12 per cent which is comparatively better than most countries. This may be taken as a positive effect of the lockdown in the country along with the cluster management and containment strategy, the statement stated.

The GoM in its 12th meeting was also apprised regarding the adequacy and availability of personal protective equipment (PPE), masks, ventilators, drugs and other essential equipment against the requirement.  It was also informed that domestic manufactures have been identified for production of  PPE and orders have been placed. In addition, orders for ventilators has been also placed, the statement said.

The GoM was briefed about the number of public and private labs presently testing for COVID-19 along with the number of tests that are being conducted every day through this network of labs. Chairperson of the GoM, Harsh Vardhan directed that there should not be any dilution of quality and standards in manufacturing of PPE, masks, ventilators and other equipment.

"He also suggested that stringent punishment may be placed for the manufacturers in case of any deviation from the quality standards/protocols while manufacturing the PPE, masks and ventilators," the statement said. 

The meeting attended by Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar, Minister of State for Home Nityananda Rai and Minister of State for Shipping, and Chemical and Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya, among others. The GOM had a detailed deliberation on the containment and management of COVID-19. It also discussed the actions taken so far, current status of social distancing measures as a preventive strategy and the stringent actions taken by the Centre as well as the states to contain the spread of the disease, the statement said.  Districts have been asked to prepare and strengthen their contingency plans to combat COVID-19, it said. 

Several other measures about strengthening capacity of states including devoting adequate resources for creating dedicated COVID-19 hospitals, equipping medical institutes with PPE, ventilators and other essential equipment etc., were also discussed in detail. States have been asked to identify COVID-19 centres and hospitals, the statement said.

The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Bio-Technology (DBT) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) gave a detailed presentation to the GoM on diagnosis, drugs and vaccine development for COVID-19 and also informed that they are working together to find the solutions and support for the management of the disease along with ICMR and Ministry of Health. Vardhan stressed that social distancing and isolation are the most effective social vaccines against COVID-19 and appealed to everyone to follow protocol of personal hygiene and respiratory protocols during the lockdown period.

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