Asactive Covid cases in the state surged to 12,616, with daily positivity rateclimbing to over 5%, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesdayurged the Centre to review its immunization strategy to vaccinate all agegroups in selected areas, while announcing a stricter policy to deal with theproblem.
TheChief Minister also called for occupation-based immunization for school andcollege students and teachers, judges, bus drivers and conductors,Panches/sarpanches, Mayors/Municipal Committee Presidents/Counsellors, MLAS,MPs etc. to pave the way for normalization of crucial activities and checksuper-spreaders. He advocated early opening of the courts to end the wait forjustice for citizens, and also of schools and colleges to bridge the gapbetween poor and affluent families in terms of education.
TheChief Minister blamed the surge in cases on fatigue/laxity in following COVIDAppropriate Behaviors, large social and religious gatherings, and efforts atnormalization such as opening of schools and colleges. Large positivity wasseen in the state’s young population, he said. He said the trend was worryingas the state had reported a total of 1475 cases and 38 deaths on Monday, preceded by 1843 cases and 43 deaths the daybefore. He pointed out that the state finance minister Manpreet Badal and SADpresident Sukhbir Badal had also tested positive for Coronavirus. “We aremaking a policy, we will get stricter from tomorrow,” he added.
DuringPrime Minister Narendra Modi’s virtual Covid review meeting with chiefministers of all states, Captain Amarinder suggested that any area where weeklytesting shows a doubling of positivity rates should immediately be consideredfor vaccination of all age groups. This, he said, would lead to better outcomesthan the periodic cycles of vaccination targeting a small section of thepopulation at each cycle. The daily positivity rate has climbed to more than 5%in March from a low of less than 1% in January. So far, a total of 1.99 lakhpositive cases had been reported from 54lakh tests and 6099 people have died of the infection, he added.
Apartfrom covering the entire population in selected areas, certain co-morbiditysituations among those below 45 years, such as kidney and liver diseases,should also be covered across the state, the Chief Minister recommended, asPunjab continued to grapple with its second peak, which started frommid-February 2021.
Withthe role of virus mutation still unclear, the Chief Minster underlined the needto strengthen viral sequencing particularly in Punjab, “as over 50% positivecases now are below 40 years of age, and we need to urgently assess whetherthis is due to any variant.” The state, he disclosed,
hadsent a large number of samples for genome sequencing but very few results hadbeen received, of which 2 indicated presence of variant.
CaptainAmarinder again reiterated the demand for permission by the Centre to use theState Disaster Relief Fund, already available with the state, for COVIDmanagement. The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India may issue theapproval urgently, he stressed.
Talkingabout the progress on the vaccination front, he informed the meeting that morethan 50% Health Care Workers and Front Line Workers have got the first dose.More than 1.10 lakh general public aged 60+ and 45+ with co-morbidities havetaken first dose of vaccination. All public healthcare facilities up to PHClevels have started working as COVID Vaccination Centers, thereby making thefacility available to the public in their vicinity, he disclosed, adding thatall public health facilities have started vaccination on all 7 days of theweek.
Moreprivate healthcare facilities are being motivated to work as COVID VaccinationCentres, said Captain Amarinder. Further, anybody getting vaccinated is beinggiven 10 tablets of Paracetamol 650 mg for use in case of fever, mild bodyaches and malaise. Extensive social media campaign is being undertaken throughMission Fateh to address the mis-information regarding COVID and vaccinationhesitancy, he further said.
HomeMinister Amit Shah suggested that the state should increase the pace ofvaccination and also formulate a separate strategy for districts with highercase load.
Listingout the measures taken by his government to battle the ongoing second wave, theChief Minister revealed that the state has imposed restrictions on socialgatherings - maximum of 100 for indoor events and 200 for outdoor events. Ninedistricts have imposed night curfew from 11 pm to 5 am, while other districtshave been asked to assess the situation and take action accordingly. The Excise& Taxation Department has been asked to appoint COVID Monitors at allHotels, Restaurants and Marriage Palaces to ensure COVID Appropriate Behaviour,he said.
Further,the Punjab Police has intensified its campaign for taking action against peoplenot following COVID appropriate behaviour, and a large number of challans havebeen issued and defaulters have been booked. All schools and Anganwadi Centreshave been closed, while Health Care Workers, who have not got vaccinated, havebeen advised to get COVID tested weekly to ensure their safety and also thesafety of the public as well.
Onthe Testing, the Chief Minister revealed that more than 30,000 COVID tests perday were being conducted by the State, of which more than 90% were through RT-PCR and less than 10% RapidAntigen Test (RAT). Punjab’s testing per million has been maintained at higherthan national average, he added.
Further,said the Chief Minister, all arrangements were in place for taking care of theaffected. The state has 8,000 oxygen supported beds, more than 1,500 ICU beds,as well as around 800 ventilators for Level-2 and Level-3 COVID patients. Bed occupancy at present is between 10-15% atLevel-2 and Level-3, he added.
Thestate government has engaged around 4,000 additional medical & paramedicalmanpower including 500 Medical Officers, 300 Specialists Doctors, 500 Nursesand other paramedical staff in the last one year, Captain Amarinder apprisedthe Prime Minister. All kinds of drugs & consumables required formanagement of COVID patients are available, including Remdesivir injection andother anti-viral drugs, he added. Also, 25 Advanced Life Support and 300 BasicLife support ambulances are available for shifting of patients.
TheExperts Group headed by Dr K.K. Talwar is holding review meetings at 7.30 p.m.daily through VC with all Level-2 and Level-3 public and private healthcarefacilities for effective management of COVID patients. Private hospitalsmanaging Level-2 and Level-3 patients have been advised to postpone electivesurgeries by two weeks with a view to create more beds for COVID patients, saidthe Chief Minister.