Thiruvananthapuram, June 10, BPNS
With the state having a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases, the health department has decided to strictly monitor influenza-like-illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases. The state for the fourth straight day had more than 2000 cases, as Friday recorded 2,471 cases. With this, the active case tally rose to 14,909. The state which received the revised surveillance strategy for dealing with the pandemic from the health ministry has also decided to make necessary changes to the existing one.
“Yes, the revised strategy has been received. It has been highlighted that early identification of the cases for containing outbreaks of new variants of SARS CoV-2 is the key. Monitoring incoming international travelers, sentinel surveillance, community-based surveillance, and whole-genome sequencing were asked to be strengthened,” said an officer of the health department.
Meanwhile, though the revised strategy proposes sewage/wastewater surveillance against Covid-19, a detailed action plan for the same will have to come from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG)
“The network of sites for sewage/wastewater samples would be finalized by INSACOG & the data from the sewage surveillance network shall be assessed for its effectiveness in guiding the public health response,” reads an excerpt from the revised guideline.
“Yes, there is some confusion regarding sewage/wastewater surveillance. Let INSACOG come out with its plan and we will then act accordingly,” added the officer.
At the same time, the spike in other diseases like dengue fever, chicken pox, H1N1, scrub typhus, and leptospirosis is continuing.
The state on Friday also recorded four cases of hand-foot-and-mouth disease — a mild, contagious viral infection common in young children – among four children in the Jagathy and Plamoodu areas of Thiruvananthapuram.
In the wake of the incident, health minister Veena George directed the health services director to conduct an inquiry and initiate disease prevention measures.
