Is India Ready To Face A New COVID-19 Wave? Nationwide Mock Drills Begin From Today

COVID-19 In India: The overall active cases in the country currently stand at 32,814, with the daily positivity rate at 3.39 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday.

Is India Ready To Face A New COVID-19 Wave? Nationwide Mock Drills Begins From Today

Covid-19 mock drills in India: Amid rising COVID-19 cases, the Ministry of Health has announced nationwide mock drills to be conducted on Monday and Tuesday to assess hospital preparedness to handle a new wave of coronavirus in the country. Both public and private facilities are set to take part in the drills. According to the officials, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya will visit AIIMS (All India Institute Of Medical Sciences), Jhajjar today to oversee the mock drill.

This comes after a week of sudden rise in the daily COVID numbers in the country. In the last week, India has reported as high as over 6,000 daily cases. Taking cognizance of the situation, a virtual meeting was held by the health ministry on Friday (last week). In the meeting, Mandaviya asked the state health ministers to monitor the mock drills in their state hospitals. State and district health departments have also been urged to analyse the ability to tackle the rise in coronavirus infections.

The Union Health Minister also emphasised the need to identify emergency hotspots by checking trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases, increasing testing and vaccination, and ensuring the readiness of hospital infrastructure.

Talking about the sudden surge in cases, or the possible fifth wave of India, the health minister said there's a need to panic at the moment. He stated that the experts of the country have found that most of the recent cases in the country are being driven by the XBB1.16 sub-variant." What experts have studied about this XBB.1.16 sub-variant is that it is not too dangerous, and the spread can be contained if proper safety protocols are being followed."

Are We Ready? State-Wise COVID Preparedness In India

With most parts of the country witnessing a surge in daily COVID-19 numbers over the last few days, several states have made masks mandatory again, while others advised to observe caution. Check the current update below:

• On Sunday, Kerala made masks mandatory for pregnant women, the elderly and those with lifestyle diseases.
• Uttar Pradesh has issued a 'high-priority' directive, instructing officials to ensure the screening of international passengers at all airports.
• COVID screening has been made compulsory for all foreign passengers coming from countries where COVID is spreading.
• Delhi, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh have also urged the citizens to adhere to Covid appropriate behaviour.
• Haryana and Puducherry have made wearing face masks mandatory in public places as a COVID-19 precautionary measure.
• All the schools in Haryana have also been asked to make masks compulsory for students, teachers and other workers.