The second wave is still ongoing; we will not be safe till the entire nation is safe, said Dr. VK Paul, Member Niti Aayog,
during today’s health ministry briefing, urging residents to continue practicing Covid-prevention measures.
His words of caution come as many states begin to open, progressively reducing lockdown-like conditions imposed by the second wave, which proved to be more lethal than the first.
As the second wave of coronavirus in the country slows, many governments have begun to relax the stringent limitations set to control the virus’s spread.
Malls and marketplaces are permitted to open on an odd-even basis in the nation’s capital. Local trains will run in Mumbai for critical services. Curbs have been relaxed in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. However, some states in the country’s south and east have prolonged the lockdown since they continue to report a significant number of cases.
Having learned the hard way the last time around, when India sped out of a rigorous countrywide lockdown, leading to complacency and, in some cases, utter contempt for Covid restrictions, The Centre has asked states to impose graduated restrictions and relaxations.
The recommendations, titled ‘Guiding Principles for Identification of Districts Requiring the Highest Level of Restrictions,’ state:
Determine which districts have a high weekly case positive rate ( more than 10 percent ).
Examine bed occupancy (oxygen and ICU beds) about available health-care infrastructure (more than 60 percent ).
The intensive surveillance in areas with a high weekly case positive rate or a high bed occupancy rate (Oxygen and ICU beds).
Once enforced, restrictions will be in effect for a minimum of 14 days.
In certain sections of the district, specified relaxations/restrictions may be given (not under containment)
At the district level, microanalysis based on clusters of instances is required.
Finally, execute the Test-Track-Treat-Vaccinate approach to guarantee proper Covid-19 behavior.
Due to these states’ grown number of Covid-19 cases, the Centre has also dispatched multi-disciplinary teams to Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Manipur.
