Containment zone not strictly followed, RTPCR decreasing : Centre tells Chattisgarh

By Sahil Pandey
New Delhi [India]. April 11 (ANI): The Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has written a letter to the Government of Chhattisgarh which says containment zone is not strictly followed and RTPCR tests are also decreasing in the state.
"The team from Raipur, Jashpur has reported lack of perimeter control in containment zones. There appears to be no restriction on movement of people inside containment zones too. Hence, Containment Zone including micro Containment Zones need to be strictly implemented. Contact tracing efforts need to be reinforced in Korba. Resistance (even attacks on healthcare workers) to containment activities and testing was reported by the team from Dhaneli Village, Raipur. This needs to be addressed on an urgent basis," Bhushan said in the letter.
Highlighting the low testing rate in districts of Chattisgarh, the letter said,"Lack/shortage of any RT-PCR testing facility in Korba, Durg, Balod Districts is leading to
increased testing turnaround time. Similarly, limited RT-PCR testing capacity was also
reported from Balod. State may facilitate RT-PCR testing by exploring the use of mobile testing labs."
According to the feedback from the Central team, patient referral in Durg District is being hampered by availability of adequate number of ambulances and it needs to be strengthened without any delay.
Bhushan also noted that hospital bed occupancy rates are high in Balod, Raipur, Durg and Mahasamund Districts.
"The District administration needs to ramp up hospital infrastructure and other logistic
requirement to meet any demand arising due to surge in cases. Similarly, shortage of
Remdesivir, Low Molecular Weight Heparin needs urgent attention in Korba District," Union Health secretary added.
Feedback also highlighted that Limited oxygen availability and oxygen wastage have also been reported by the team from Raipur.
"District level and Hospital level oxygen planning must start in all districts, as per the formal guidance of this Ministry," letter stated .
Health workforce shortage was reported in Durg, Jashpur, Rajnandangaon districts.
Roastering for Health Care Workers and contractual appointment of Health Care Workers must also be explored.
Bhushan also said that there is need for refresher training of surveillance teams and
vaccinators in Balod and Korba districts respectively.
"The teams have also reported non-adherence to COVID-19 appropriate behaviour by the public. Overcrowding and no physical distancing was observed in the vaccination centre visited by the team in Rajnandangaon. There is need for enhancing at IEC activity efforts in Durg District and strengthening enforcement effort across all districts," according to the letter talking about the lack of COVID appropriate behaviour followed by public.
Union Government has also taken note of issues related to vaccine availability and
required action to augment the supplies based on available stock.
Health Ministry deployed Central teams to 11 most affected Districts in Chhattisgarh where they have been tasked to work along with District Health Authorities on COVID-19 preparedness and response with focus on testing, contact tracing and containment operations, COVID appropriate behaviour and its enforcement, Hospital infrastructure and availability of logistic and COVID vaccination progress in the state. (ANI)