Covid-19: Health Ministry draws out tough cluster containment plan to curb spread of coronavirus

The Indian government has extended a containment strategy as clusters causing high risk of further spread of Covid-19 have emanated in a number of states.

The cluster containment plan is expected to gain control over the disease within the bounds of defined geographical area by prematurely discovering the cases, breaking the chain of transmission and consequently preventing its spread to new areas.

“Clusters have appeared in multiple states, particularly Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Karnataka, Telangana and UT of Ladakh. 211 districts are now reporting Covid-19 cases and the risk of further spread remains very high,” the Union health ministry has said in a 20-page strategy document.

The agggressive containment plan will only be downscaled, if no new cases of Sars-CoV-2 are reported for not less than four weeks after the last confirmed case, said the government document.

“Intensive risk communication campaign will be followed to encourage all persons to stay indoors for an initial period of 28 days, to be extended based on the risk assessment. Based on the risk assessment and indication of successful containment operations, an approach of staggered work and market hours may be put into practice,” the document said.

The cluster containment plan would “include geographic quarantine, social distancing measures, enhanced active surveillance, testing all suspected cases, isolation of cases, quarantine of contacts and risk, communication to create awareness among public on preventive public health measures”, the document read.

“The objective of this plan is to stop the chain of transmission thus reducing the morbidity and mortality due to Covid-19,” it added.

For large-scale upsuge responsive to containment, the documents said that the plan will continue to be the same but vary in extent based on spread, and response to be intensified to contain it.

Geographic isolation and containment plan will include defining the area of functioning, robust surveillance for cases and contacts in the identified geographic area, increasing laboratory space for testing all suspected cases, high risk contacts and SARI cases and put into operationalising space made for quarantine to hospitalise and take care of all suspicious or proven patients.

Also Read: Coronavirus: Suspected Covid-19 patient attempts suicide by jumping off 3rd floor in AIIMS Delhi

Also Read: NPCIL urges citizens to ‘keep all fans on for 15 minutes’ during PM's 9 minutes blackout; know why