The Union Health Ministry, on Sunday, April 6, said that the COVID-19 doubling rate in India is now at 4.1 days and stated that the sudden spike can be linked to the Tablighi Jamaat gathering that took place in Delhi’s Nizamuddin between March 10 and 15.
Joint Secretary to Union Health Ministry, Lav Agarwal, said, ‘If it were not for the congregation, India’s rate of doubling would have been at 7.4 days.’
A religious congregation of Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic movement with its headquarters in Delhi, had held a congregation of around 2500 people including delegates from India and abroad had visited Markaz, Nizamuddin in mid-March. Alarm bells were sounded in several states after several attendees of the gathering tested positive.
Addressing the media on the details of the containment plans, he said that all the states have been instructed to put a district-specific containment strategy in place, based on the detailed large outbreak containment plan issued by the Health Ministry.
‘As per the guidelines, states will be asked to start these rapid tests. The objective behind introducing the rapid testing mechanism was more effective monitoring, keeping in mind areas from where a large number of cases are being reported, areas where mass gatherings have been held and also at the evacuee centres that require mass samples to be tested in a short period. Also, to monitor influenza-like illness cases,’ said Agarwal.
He also mentioned that measures to make frontline healthcare workers aware of the government-sponsored health insurance scheme will be carried out in every state.
The Home Ministry also detailed the course of action being taken to handle the stranded migrant workers in various states. All of them have been quarantined at 28,000 relief camps set up across India.
‘Of all the camps providing relief and shelter, 23,924 camps have been set by the government and 3,737 are being run by the NGOs. Food camps are 19,460, of which 9,951 are government-run, and 9,509 are run by NGOs. About 12.5 lakh people are housed in these shelter camps across the country, and at least 75 lakh people have been provided with food. As per our information, 13.6 lakh people are being given shelter and food by their employers and industry,’ said Punya Salila Srivastava, joint secretary, Home Ministry.
She also clarified that the states have been instructed to ensure smooth inter-state movement for people involved dealing with the supply of all essential services and goods including drugs, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment.
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