As the number of Covid cases in Tamil Nadu has been on the rise since the last few days, State Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan on Monday urged District Collectors, Commissioner, Greater Chennai Corporation and health teams at various levels to involve the public and sensitise them to go beyond awareness and follow various directions issued by the government to prevent the spread of Covid, including Delta and Omicron variants.

The State Government has been fully involved in taking steps in preventing and controlling the spread of Covid. Chief Minister MK Stalin has also conducted a detailed meeting and clearly indicated the steps being taken in this regard for disease containment.

The State has been working closely with guidance received from the Centre and connected experts and focusing on two clear areas.

The first is preventing the spread of diseases by insisting on strict adherence to masks, social distancing, frequent handwashing and ensuring that closed and crowded places are adequately ventilated. The officials are to ask unvaccinated eligible persons, those due for second dose vaccinations and those between 15 to 18 years, who will be eligible to get vaccinated from Monday onwards, to get vaccinated within this week without fail and focus on those above 60 with comorbidity.

The officials are to ensure that the standard operating procedures are strictly followed and implemented for the permitted activities and focusing on the number of restrictions and places of crowding are strictly monitored and Covid appropriate behaviour strictly enforced.

If needed, the regulatory officials should not hesitate by repeatedly penalising the defaulters and focus is not on collecting fines but ensuring change in behaviour beyond awareness by adequate and sustained information, education and communication campaign including local mike announcements and coordinated efforts involving all stakeholders especially the connected associations including market associations and resident welfare associations.

The second issue of handling the spurt is by strengthening clinical management of cases by ensuring adequate testing, tracing, isolation and ensuring that the 1.15 lakh available beds currently for Covid treatment are fully operational and additional 50,000 beds, especially Covid care centres including interim Covid care centres adjacent to habitations, streets or wards are made fully operational.

The war rooms should be fully activated and functional in the districts. They should daily keep the State war room and the Directorate of Public Health control room updated.

Screening centres

Officials should ensure and operationalise adequate screening centres are also opened and made operational to facilitate operationalising of the updated protocol, adequate Covid care centres are made operational, human resources are deployed in the screening centres with the standard blood test and other equipment and also Covid care centres are provided with the necessary staff at all levels.

The Indian Medicine and Siddha CCC also should be operationalised to ensure that willing persons who wish to take advantage of such streams under the supervision of the respective streams of doctors and those with asymptomatic and mild diseases are provided access to it.

The government has made available adequate medicines and has necessary back-up arrangements and is regularly monitoring and reviewing the increasing numbers of cases reported per day internationally and nationally and in Tamil Nadu especially now in Chennai and neighbouring districts.

Other districts should also be aware of the nature of high transmissibility of this disease and keep abreast and personally monitor the guidance received from time to time, the communication said.

Published on January 3, 2022