Home Ministry letter: States should be cautious in lifting restrictions, outlines 5-point strategy

New Delhi, 30 June 2021 Tuesday

The Union Home Ministry has written to the states asking them to be cautious in easing the ban on Kovid-19. The Home Ministry further wrote that the management of Covid-19 should focus on a five-point strategy for testing, tracing, treatment, vaccination and appropriate behavior.

The ministry also asked the states to treat the districts as administrative units and regularly monitor the transition rates and bed conditions in hospitals. The ministry said steps should be taken to create a containment zone if there is a sign of an increase in the rate of infection and an early sign of an increase in the number of patients in bed.

The central government on Tuesday called on the states to focus on a five-tier strategy for effective COVID-19 management and said the process of easing controls should be carefully planned. Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has advised all state governments and Union Territory administrations on COVID-19 management for the month of July.

It said states should regularly monitor districts where the number of under-treatment cases of coronavirus is high in every 1 million population, as this is an important indication of the need to upgrade health infrastructure and equipment. So that quick action can be taken.

Many states have begun easing controls as cases of the corona virus under treatment are declining, he said. Bhalla said the process of lifting the restrictions should be carefully planned and targeted action should be taken by the states in line with the advice given by the Union Health Ministry.