The trajectory of COVID-19 cases in the country is declining lately after a “slight uptick” that began in the last week of November and peaked in late December, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Friday.
Cases of the JN. 1 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus were first reported in the country in November 2023, Mandaviya told Lok Sabha in response to a question.
The Union Ministry of Health continues to monitor the trajectory of COVID-19 in the country as well as globally.
“Overall, the trajectory of COVID-19 cases in the country saw a slight uptick in the last week of November 2023, peaking at the end of December and is declining lately,” Mandavikya said.
As on January 29, there were a total of 1,460 active cases in the country, with almost 85 per cent of them mild and under home isolation, he said.
To strengthen disease surveillance and monitor disease trends, including those of COVID-19 and its variants, the government of India has strengthened the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), which monitors outbreak-prone diseases and institutes requisite public health measures, according to the minister.
Similarly, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has established a network of more than 150 Virus Diagnostic and Research Laboratories (VRDLs) for the confirmation of pathogens in the laboratory, Mandaviya said.
Funding has been provided to states and union territories to strengthen the fitness formula to deal with any demands due to public fitness emergencies, such as pandemics, through the National Health Mission, he said.
“With the long-term goal of better preparing our country for public fitness emergencies, the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) was launched with the aim of strengthening the capacity of primary, secondary, and tertiary health care systems. and institutes to identify and manage all new and emerging diseases,” he said.
The Union Ministry of Health, through a series of formal communications and virtual meetings, urged all states and Union territories to conduct COVID-19 surveillance in accordance with the “Operational Guidance for a Revised Surveillance Strategy in the Context of COVID-19” published through the Union Ministry of Health.
They were also asked to expand RT-PCR-based COVID-19 testing and return a sufficient number of positive samples to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) laboratory network for whole genome sequencing (WGS). ) to the immediate detection of new variants of the coronavirus.
States and Union territories have been urged to monitor new evidence of COVID-19 cases, symptoms, and severity, as well as take inventory of available fitness infrastructure, adding the availability of hospital beds, ventilators, intensive care units, medical oxygen, medicines, and qualified human resources, etc. to allow for the spark and proper treatment of patients,” Mandavikya said.
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