Covid: Narendra Modi expresses concern at spread beyond big cities

The PM called on the states to take 'quick and decisive steps' to stop the emerging second peak through the standard public health measures

A health worker takes a swab sample from a passenger at the CSMT station in Mumbai on Wednesday.: (PTI)

TT   |   New Delhi   |  18.03.21:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked states to help stop India’s Covid-19 epidemic’s “emerging second peak” amid sharp rises in daily new cases in 125 districts over the past two weeks. 

Modi, in a videoconference with the chief ministers of various states, expressed concern about the latest epidemic assessments indicating a 150 per cent or greater rise in cases in 70 districts and 100 to 150 per cent rise in 55 districts. 

The “confidence” that India gained while battling the coronavirus epidemic during the first wave should not turn into “negligence”, Modi warned amid signals from multiple states that laxity in public health responses are likely contributing to the surge. 

The Prime Minister called on the states to take “quick and decisive steps” to stop the emerging second peak through the standard public health measures such as efficient testing, tracking and treating and efforts at containment. 

India’s count of daily new cases has increased from around 11,000 in mid-February to over 28,000 on Wednesday after a steady decline since the peak of the first epidemic wave in mid-September marked by 96,000 daily new cases.

The epidemic has grown in at least 12 states — Maharashtra, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan — since March 1 but several states are conducting fewer RT-PCR-based diagnostic tests than required. 

RT-PCR tests, for instance, make up only 50 per cent tests in Gujarat, 40 per cent in Chandigarh and 34 per cent in Chhattisgarh, and 64 per cent in Delhi. Alternative so-called antigen tests can yield false negative results and miss cases. 

Modi stressed the need for local health authorities to ensure that RT-PCR tests make up at least 70 per cent of diagnostic tests conducted as recommended by the health ministry. 

Public health teams sent by the Union health ministry to Maharashtra and other states have also expressed concern that after cases are detected, local health authorities have not been tracing and quarantining their contacts in an efficient manner. 

“It has been observed that in some cases, contact tracing is confined to members of the household,” a senior health official said. The health ministry has directed states to ensure that for every case at least 20 to 30 contacts are traced and quarantined. 

The latest assessments by the health ministry suggest that sharpest increases in daily counts over the past two weeks have occurred in tier-2 and tier-3 cities and not in the largest towns or metros that were among the hardest hit in 2020. 

Some of the highest increases in daily new cases, for instance, have occurred in Nanded (385 per cent) in Maharashtra, Yamunanagar (300 per cent) in Haryana, Ratlam (500 per cent) in Madhya Pradesh and Ropar (256 per cent) in Punjab. In contrast, the rise since March 1 has been 76 per cent in Ahmedabad, 25 per cent in Bangalore and 15 per cent in Gurgaon. 

“This pattern is in line with forecasts that when it gets an opportunity, the virus will spread into tier-2 and tier-3 towns and rural areas,” a community medicine specialist said. In large cities, the virus has already infected large fractions of people.