Centre asks Udupi, 15 other districts in country to raise per/million COVID tests
New Delhi: With 16 districts in four states reporting COVID-19 mortality higher than the national and their respective state' average, the Centre on Friday advised them to increase tests per million population and reduce case confirmation percentage in addition to ensuring availability of ambulances with a target of zero refusal.
Districts that are reporting COVID-19 mortality higher than the national and states' average are a cause of concern, the Union Health ministry said as India's death toll due to the disease climbed to 41,585, according to its data updated at 8 am.
The 16 districts are Ahmedabad and Surat in Gujarat, Belagavi, Bengaluru urban, Kalaburagi and Udupi in Karnataka, Chennai, Kanchipuram, Ranipet, Theni, Thiruvallur, Tiruchirappalli, Tuticorin and Virudhnagar in Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad and Medchal Malkajgiri in Telangana.
"Apart from the higher case mortality, these districts account for 17 per cent of India's active cases, high daily new cases, low tests per million, and high confirmation percentage," the ministry said.
As part of Centre-state coordinated strategy for effective containment and management of the COVID-19 pandemic, a high level virtual meeting was chaired by Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan to engage with the district and state administration in order to analyse the factors driving the high COVID-19 mortality and devise ways and means to reduce it, the ministry said.
Principal Secretary (Health) and Mission Director of National Health Mission (NHM) from the four states along with district surveillance officers, district collectors, commissioners of the municipal corporation, Chief Medical Officers, and Medical Superintendent of Medical Colleges participated in the meeting.
The districts were advised to ensure that the advisories, guidelines and clinical treatment protocols issued by the Health Ministry are adopted and effectively implemented to reduce the mortality among COVID-19 patients and other preventable deaths among all sections of the people, particularly those with comorbidities, pregnant women, the elderly and children.
"Following the Continuum of Care approach, as sincere containment and surveillance efforts have a bearing on the case mortality, states were advised to ensure optimum capacity utilization of testing labs, increase tests per million population and reduce confirmation percentage, in addition to ensuring timely availability of ambulances with target zero refusal," the ministry said.
They were also advised to analyze availability and need for projected beds and oxygen, and plan in a timely manner. It was pointed out to them that it was critical to ensure good infection prevention and control practices to control infection in healthcare workers.
Registering a record 62,538 cases in 24 hours, India's COVID-19 tally galloped past 20 lakh on Friday, while the death toll climbed to 41,585 with 886 people succumbing to the infection in 24 hours, the ministry's data updated at 8 am showed.
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MediaOne TV Facebook page restored after block linked to ‘government request’
Kochi: The official Facebook page of Malayalam news channel MediaOne TV has been restored after being blocked without prior notice, the broadcaster said on Wednesday.
The channel was quoted by Maktoob as saying that the restriction was lifted automatically, with Meta Platforms informing it that the action had been taken following a “government request” which has now expired or been reversed.
The development came shortly after the channel approached the Kerala High Court challenging the blocking of its page, terming it arbitrary and in violation of legal provisions and judicial precedents. The High Court had issued notice to Meta via email hours before the restriction was withdrawn.
In its petition, the channel said access to its Facebook page had been restricted for users in India without citing any specific content or alleged violation. It contended that while individual posts may be taken down under applicable a rule, blocking an entire page goes beyond the scope of such measures.
The incident followed an earlier action taken against the channel in 2022, when the Ministry of Information and transmitting prohibited it from transmitting. It cited national security concerns regarding the Ministry of Home Affairs' refusal of security clearance.
The Supreme Court of India in April 2023 set aside the ban, observing that national security claims cannot be made without substantive basis and that criticism of government policies does not render a media outlet anti-national.
