The community as a whole should take ownership in the coming days so that the State doesn’t lose the gains it had made in controlling the spread of COVID-19, Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan said.
In a letter to district officials on Thursday, he urged them to remain focused on involving the people “so that we don’t let go of the gains made in COVID control by ignoring the basics which helped us so far in the battle to control the pandemic”.
The officials must maintain precautions such as ensuring the wearing of masks and frequent hand-washing, and avoiding crowding in public spaces. This was necessary as fresh infections had started “showing an upward trend” after reaching a low of around 20 cases. Isolated cases were being reported from several districts, including Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Tiruppur and Salem.
Only the need to be vaccinated to access public spaces had been withdrawn. Vaccination is voluntary for eligible persons. But with COVID-19 yet a notifiable disease, the safety protocols should be followed, he said.
Officials must constantly sensitise people about the risks associated with crowded, closed places, and the contacts of those who test positive must be tested, he said.
While the rise in new cases was not a cause for panic, he said that with the world reporting 7 to 10 lakh cases a day, it would be foolhardy for people to throw caution to the wind.
Monitoring fresh cases and following the strategy of test, trace, treat and follow-up along with COVID-19-appropriate behaviour and vaccination of eligible persons should be continued, as it would “help to check for early signs of change in trends so that we can take preventive action”, he said.
Vulnerable segments of the population such as the elderly and persons with co-morbidities must be covered in vaccination drives. Testing of all symptomatic persons in all settings should be continued, apart from contact-tracing and analysis of the source of infections to enable the State to achieve its aim of preventing any resurgence of the infection, he said.
The district officials should, in consultation with the Directorate of Public Health (DPH), refer samples for whole genomic sequencing as per DPH guidelines, he said.
