Centre issues advisory to States amidst rising COVID-19 cases, JN.1 variant detection

HYDERABAD: In light of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in some Indian states and UTs, as well as the discovery of the first case of the new JN.1 variant of COVID-19 in the country, Sudhansh Pant, Union Health Secretary, issued an advisory to states and UTs on Monday, emphasising the importance of maintaining constant vigilance over the COVID situation in the country.

He underlined that the trajectory has been sustained at sustainable low rates due to consistent and collaborative actions between the Centre and State Governments.

However, as the COVID-19 virus continues to circulate and its epidemiology behaviour settles with Indian climatic conditions and the circulation of other common infections, it is critical to maintain pace in order to successfully address public health concerns.

Union Health Secretary emphasized the importance of critical COVID control and management strategies as below

• States are advised to implement public health measures and respiratory hygiene maintenance to minimize the risk of increased disease transmission during the upcoming festive season.
• States were urged to ensure effective compliance of the detailed operational guidelines for revised surveillance strategy for COVID-19 as has been shared by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• States asked to monitor and report District-wise Influenza-like Illness (ILI) & Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) cases in all health facilities on a regular basis including in the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) portal, for detecting the early rising trend of cases.
• States were advised to ensure adequate testing in all the districts as per Covid-19 testing guidelines and maintain the recommended share of RT-PCR and Antigen tests.
• States were encouraged to increase the number of RT-PCR tests and send positive samples for genome sequencing to the Indian SARS COV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) laboratories so as to enable timely detection of new variants, if any, in the country.
• States to ensure active participation of all public and private health facilities in the drill being conducted by the Union Health Ministry, to take stock of their preparedness and response capacities.
• States also to promote community awareness to seek their continued support in managing COVID-19, including adherence to respiratory hygiene.