About 95% of the population in Puducherry is susceptible to COVID-19, according to the three-member Central team which had a discussion with Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi on Wednesday.
The team from the ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, said that though a serosurvey had not yet been carried out in Puducherry, from the data available, it is likely that 95% of the people are at risk, a note from Raj Nivas said.
Prabhdeep Kaur, Deputy Director, ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, who led the NIE team, stated that though the initial response of the government of Puducherry was matching with the number of cases, it required augmentation after the unlocking of activities.
More resources needed
“After unlock, the response is required to be ramped up to meet the challenge, which may continue for a longer duration of time, say for one year. Therefore, the health infrastructure in terms of resources, human resources and support of agencies need to be augmented to trace and treat the positive cases, reduce fatalities and flatten the curve,” Dr. Kaur said.
The team also provided an overview of their week-long survey of ground situation, interaction with the medical officers of 27 Primary Health Centres and discussions with the Central team of JIPMER, and the recommendations they had submitted to Government.
The Lt. Governor asked Chief Secretary Ashwani Kumar and other key officials to take a meeting with the Central team for evolving a roadmap to implement the recommendations effectively and urgently.
