Centre to review COVID-19 situation in UP, Chhattisgarh

The Centre has recommended a multi-pronged strategy to deal with the pandemic situation in Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh which have the highest number of active Covid-19 cases after Maharashtra.

On Friday, union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla chaired a high-level meeting to review the situation in Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh. It was attended by health secretary Rajesh Bhushan and the chief secretaries, police chiefs and health secretaries of the two states, officials said. On Thursday, Bhalla had held a review with Madhya Pradesh and is likely to hold discussions with nine other states including Karnataka, Delhi and Gujarat in the coming days.

A health ministry statement also highlighted a fall in the number of RT-PCR tests, which are considered more accurate, in both states. On Uttar Pradesh, the statement said the state had reported a growth rate of 19.25% in the 7-day moving average.


“The states were advised to increase the number of isolation beds, oxygen beds, ventilators/ICU beds, ambulance fleet as per requirement; plan for adequate oxygen supply; and focus on mortality reduction by early identification of positive cases and adherence to national treatment protocol,” it added.