Over one million COVID-19 patients have recovered from the disease, and India’s recovery rate now stands at 64.54 per cent. Delhi is leading with its recovery rate of 89.08 per cent, followed by Haryana (79.82 per cent).
Karnataka, however, remains a cause of concern, with the lowest recovery rate of 39.36 per cent. At the 19th meeting of the group of ministers on COVID-19—a group that was formed in February to take stock of the health crisis in the country—recovery rates, and states where the situation remained worrisome were discussed. The last GoM was held on July 9. The group is chaired by Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, and members include Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep S. Puri, Minister of State Mansukh Lal Mandaviya, Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey, and MoS Nityanand Rai.
“Active cases under medical supervision are only 33.27 per cent, or approximately 1/3rd of total positive cases. India’s case fatality rate is also progressively reducing and currently stands at 2.18 per cent, one of the lowest globally,” Vardhan said. Members were also informed that of the total active cases, only 0.28 per cent patients are on ventilators, 1.61 per cent patients needed ICU support and 2.32 per cent are on oxygen support.
Dr Sujeet K. Singh, director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), informed the group on growth rate in top 12 states with COVID-19 cases—Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Telangana, Bihar, Rajasthan and Assam—and also briefed them about the death rates in top 20 districts and containment zones across districts. Singh said that efforts were being made to reduce mortality in high case load districts and cities such as Pune, Thane, Bengaluru and Hyderabad that had recently begun showing a surge in cases.
The ministry’s strategy for effective management of containment zones remains emphasising stricter perimeter control in containment zones, conducting widespread rapid antigen tests, rapid door-to-door search and more isolation facilities for suspects and cases; standard case management protocols along with increase in oxygen supported beds and ventilators. Singh also emphasised on assessing the true burden of the disease through planned sero-surveys and raising awareness among people at large.
In moderate case load districts or cities, the efforts would focus on preventing spill-over from the high burden areas, limiting local spread, early identification of cases, strengthening contact tracing with the use of technology and community involvement.
In low burden districts, focus would be on preventing infection strengthening Influenza Like Illness (ILI)/ Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) surveillance and targeted testing, rigorous contact tracing with targets to be set by the local administration (15-20 contacts per case) and prior identification of high-risk population. The GoM also discussed protocols that were to be followed at airports in the coming days and systemic improvements to improve the triaging of the incoming passengers.