Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare today interacted with Chief Ministers, State Health Ministers and Principal Secretaries/ Additional Chief Secretaries of 7 States though video conferencing. These States included Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura Meghalaya and Goa.
Sh. T. S. Rawat, Chief Minister (Uttarakhand) who also oversees the State’s Health Ministry, Sh. N. Biren Singh, Chief Minister (Manipur), Sh. Rajesh Tope, Health Minister (Maharashtra), Dr. R. Lalthangliana, Health Minister (Mizoram), Sh. Vishwajit Pratapsingh Rane, Health Minister (Goa), Sh. Ratan Lal Nath, Minister of School Education, Higher Education, Law and Parliamentary Affairs (Tripura) participated virtually.
Dr Harsh Vardhan has recently held a review meeting with Andhra Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, Haryana and Kerala. He has also reviewed the COVID preparedness with States/ UTs of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Delhi.
Highlighting the State specific areas of concern that would require focussed attention, Dr. Harsh Vardhan noted that although the active cases have come down in Maharashtra, it continues to have a large Active Caseload, with a high Fatality Rate (2.6%) which increases to 3.5% in and around Mumbai. CFR in Uttarakhand is higher than the national average at 1.64%; Active cases are on the rise in the recent days in Manipur. Higher Positivity in the State is indicative of hidden transmission, he stated. 40% of total deaths are recorded in just the last one month in Goa which is a cause of worry. With 70% of cases concentrated in Aizawl, Mizoram is seeing a further rise in active cases; Tripura and Meghalaya are witnessing higher deaths (~37%) in the active age groups (45-60 years) which are preventable.