Two-Day Nationwide Mock Drill In Hospitals From Today To Check Preparedness Amid Spike In New Covid-19 Cases

New Delhi: Amid rising Covid-19 cases, a nationwide mock drill to take stock of hospital preparedness will be held from Monday in which both public and private facilities are expected to participate. The mock drill is vital to ensure timely and effective healthcare for Covid-19 patients. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will visit AIIMS, Jhajjar on Monday to oversee the mock drill, Health Ministry officials said. In a review meeting held on April 7, Mandaviya had urged state health ministers to visit hospitals and oversee the mock drills. He had also advised them to review the preparedness with district administrations and health officials on April 8 and 9.

In a review meeting held on April 7, Mandaviya had urged state health ministers to visit hospitals and oversee the mock drills. He had also advised them to review the preparedness with district administrations and health officials on April 8 and 9.

In the meeting with state health ministers, and principal and additional chief secretaries held virtually, Mandaviya had stressed the need to identify emergency hotspots by monitoring trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases, ramping up testing and vaccination, and ensuring readiness of hospital infrastructure. Besides enhancing genome sequencing and ramping up whole genome sequencing of positive samples, he had emphasised creating awareness about following Covid-appropriate behaviour.

WHO Tracking New Covid-19 Variants

During the meeting, states and union territories were informed that currently the World Health Organisation (WHO) is closely tracking a variant of interest (VOI), XBB.1.5, and six other variants are under monitoring (BQ.1, BA.2.75, CH.1.1, XBB, XBF and XBB.1.16), a health ministry statement had said.

It was highlighted that while Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the predominant variants, most of the assigned variants have little or no significant transmissibility, disease severity or immune escape. The prevalence of XBB.1.16 increased from 21.6 per cent in February to 35.8 per cent in March. However, no evidence of an increase in hospitalisation or mortality has been reported, the statement said.

Stress On Covid-19 Tracking, Testing & Treatment

During the meeting, it was observed that 23 states and union territories had average tests per million below the national average. Mandaviya had said that irrespective of the new variants, the five-fold strategy of 'Test-Track-Treat-Vaccinate and adherence to Covid-Appropriate Behaviour' continues to remain the tested strategy for Covid management. States and union territories were also requested to expeditiously increase the rate of testing from 100 tests per million as on the week ending April 7. They were further advised to increase the share of RT-PCR in tests.

India reports 5,357 fresh Covid-19 cases in last 24 hours

A total of 5,357 fresh Covid-19 infections were recorded in the country in the last 24 hours marking a slight decrease from Saturday`s count of 6,155 cases, the Union Health Ministry stated in a bulletin on Sunday. Covid infections in the country have seen an upward trend in the past few days, with the daily fresh infections at 2,994 on April 1, 3,824 on April 2, 3,641 on April 3, 3,038 on April 4, 4,435 on April 5, 5,335 on April 6 and 6,050 on April 7 and 6155 on April 8. 

The overall active cases currently stand at 32,814, as of Sunday, with the daily positivity rate at 3.39 per cent, the Health Ministry stated further in its release. With 3,726 recoveries in the last 24 hours, the overall count stood at 4,41,92,837, the bulletin stated, adding that the overall recovery rate is currently at 98.74 per cent. Under the nationwide vaccination drive, a total of 220.66 crore vaccine doses have been administered, as of Sunday, of which 659 doses were administered in the last 24 hours. 

CJI Allows Lawyer To Appear Virtually In Courts

In the wake of the rising number of Covid-19 cases, the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud earlier in the week said lawyers are free to appear virtually in court . CJI Chandrachud said newspaper reports show that Covid cases are on the rise and if a lawyer wants to appear virtually before the court they can and the hybrid mode is also on. "We saw newspaper reports on rising Covid cases. Lawyers can use hybrid mode. If you choose to appear online, we will hear you," said the CJI. 

The Supreme Court had reverted to the physical hearing mode of adjudication of cases from April 4, 2022, after taking into account the low infection rate and the number of Covid cases in Delhi and across the country. The apex court has been successfully experimenting with the hybrid method -- a combination of physical and virtual -- of hearing for quite some time. The Supreme Court has also started live-streaming the Constitution bench proceedings through the Supreme Court app and YouTube even after the resumption of physical hearings.