UP to replicate Pulse Polio immunisation model to flatten Covid-19 curve

Against the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauding the steps taken by Uttar Pradesh to control the spread of Covid-19, the state government on Sunday announced that it would replicate the Pulse Polio immunisation model for enhanced Covid-19 surveillance in the state.

According to UP additional chief secretary (medical and health) Amit Mohan Prasad, special health teams will be deployed for door-to-door survey of households to identify suspected coronavirus cases and the risk profiling of the vulnerable groups, including people having co-morbidities like kidney disease, blood pressure and diabetes etc.

He said the campaign would start from the Meerut division on July 1 and gradually cover all the remaining 17 divisions of the state spanning 75 districts.

On Friday, the Meerut division, which also comprises the National Capital Region (NCR) districts of Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida) and Ghaziabad districts, accounted for 284 or nearly 47 per cent of 607 new coronavirus cases in UP, prompting the state to take exigent steps for the region.

“We have decided to take the Covid-19 surveillance mechanism to a new level with the campaign beginning next month from the Meerut division,” he said.

He added the health teams would also report for related ailments, such as severe acute respiratory distress (SARD), in both the containment and non-containment zones during the herculean task on the lines of the Pulse Polio campaign.

“All those with co-morbidities will be identified during the door-to-door exercise, while the people will be asked to follow standard safety protocols to keep the infection at bay,” Prasad added.

Meanwhile, the total number of Covid-19 cases in UP stood at 6,679, while 14,808 patients had been discharged from hospitals after treatment. The coronavirus death toll in the state is at 660. The recovery ratio in the state has improved to over 66 per cent.

On Friday, Modi had complemented the Adityanath government for effectively curbing the spread of the infection in UP, which had helped in keeping the mortality rate much lower compared to several European countries having roughly the same population base.

The state has already breached the level of 20,000 in daily sample testing and the state is now eyeing to ramp up daily testing capacity to 25,000 in the coming days.

So far, the health teams, over the past months, have surveyed more than 10 million households in the state covering a population of over 56 million people to report Covid-19 cases.

Recently, Chief Minister Adityanath had asked the health department officials to upgrade Covid-19 tracking and control measures in the NCR districts due to its proximity to the national capital and frequent interstate travel in the region.

The state has also directed the industrial units, having more than five employees working with them, to set up Covid-19 help desks in their premises.