The Centre on Thursday, 9 December, asked the states and Union Territories to maintain adequate buffer stock of the eight critical drugs identified for treatment of new COVID-19 variant Omicron.

The states have been asked to ensure that funds released by Centre under ECRP-II are being utilised for creating and strengthening health infrastructure, and 100 percent matching funds are promptly released by states to the state health societies.

Raising the issue of many ventilators supplied by the Centre lying unpacked and unused at some field hospitals, the Centre has asked the states to review immediately and ensure that all PSA oxygen plants, oxygen concentrators and ventilators are installed and functioning.

It has asked the five-fold strategy of Test-Track-Treat-Vaccinate-adherence to COVID Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) to maintain as the mainstay of public health response strategy for effective and timely control and management of COVID and its variants.

Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan in the review meeting on Omicron urged the states and UTs to enhance testing and focus on surveillance to ensure early identification of the suspected cases for their prompt isolation and further clinical management.

The districts reporting higher case positivity were alerted to monitor the case trajectory on a regular basis, and to promptly dispatch positive samples to the mapped INSACOG labs for whole genome sequencing.

Underscoring the critical importance of vaccination drive, states were also advised to continue increasing the pace and coverage of C0VID-19 nationwide vaccination drive with focus on the ongoing 'Har Ghar Dastak' campaign for ensuring full vaccination of all eligible population.

(This story was published from a syndicated feed. Only the headline and picture has been edited by FIT.)