IDSP calls for strict implementation of COVID appropriate behaviour
Morung Express News
Dimapur | April 3
Lying low since December, Nagaland was in for a surprise this week as the State reported a superspreader event affecting a significant rise in the tally of cases for the week.
As per the weekly roundup of the State Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), Health & Family Welfare, issued on April 3, there was a superspreader event in Kohima hiking the weekly tally to 132 cases.
On March 31, 107 cases were detected at a training institute in Kohima, which the IDSP said, “sends a clear message that such events can happen anywhere when necessary conditions (crowding) are met.” It also happened to be highest single day spike reported in the State in the last 6 months.
The IDSP said that superspreader events in the State have been reported from enclosed and crowded places with poor natural ventilation and where COVID-19 appropriate behaviors can be compromised like offices, schools, prisons, places of worship, trainings, meetings, restaurants, crowded markets, public transport and large public events.
To avoid such events, it called for “alternate day routine for schools”, staggered timings for church and religious events while ensuring 2-meter physical distancing as in SOP, besides event managers ensuring management, physical distancing and COVID-19 appropriate behaviors.
High positivity
The weekly total of 132 was detected from 986 samples returning at a positivity rate of 13 percent. The last time Nagaland reported over a hundred cases in a week was December 12-18, 2020.
The overall positivity rate for the State increased to 9.2 from 9 percent the previous week. As far as testing was concerned, it remained unchanged at 67 tests per thousand population.
There were no new cases of death, which remained at 91 (10 not COVID related). In Nagaland, however, it said that case fatality rate or death rate of 45 years and above is much higher at 2.6 percent than the overall rate of 0.66 percent.
India situation
The country has recorded a 37 percent increase in new cases from the past week with the highest cases reported from Maharashtra. More than 4.5 lakh cases and 2,447 deaths were reported from the week with a death rate of 0.5 percent, the IDSP said, while adding that deaths usually follow 2-3 weeks after increase in cases.
“While the country was reporting about 97,000 daily new COVID cases at the peak of the pandemic in September 2020, the country has now reached the critical figure 81,000 daily new cases of COVID”, it quoted a GoI report.
Vaccination
As on April 2, a total of 89,349 doses of Covishield vaccine, inclusive of 24,239 second doses, have been administered in Nagaland. 8,080 doses were administered in the past week.
“Vaccines offer the best chance against severe disease or death and all eligible citizens should get protected at the earliest,” it asserted.
In other parts of the world, it said, “Certifications of vaccination that reduce public health restrictions for their bearers is under process in many countries.” Australia, Denmark and Sweden are reported to have committed to the implementation, while it said that Israel, which leads the world in per capita vaccination, is already issuing “green passes” to vaccinated residents. USA, UK and the European Union are considering the same.
