Test-track-treat and vaccinate: Centre asks states to ensure 'carefully calibrated' lockdown opening

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Saturday asked the states and union territories to ensure the easing of COVID-related lockdown and opening up of activities in a "calibrated manner", pointing out that the easing of norms has led to crowding in some markets and other places.

The Home Ministry urged states to ensure the "extremely important" five-fold strategy of COVID-appropriate behaviour, test-track-treat and vaccination to break the chain of transmission. In a letter to the states, Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla emphasised the need to continue adopting COVID-appropriate behaviour to contain the spread of the pandemic.

Asking the state chief secretaries and administrators of UTs to step up the pace of vaccination, to cover the maximum number of people expeditiously, Bhalla said vaccination against Covid-19, in the present scenario, is critical to breaking the chain of transmission.

The home secretary said during the second wave, a significant surge in cases was witnessed in several states and UTs, and many of them imposed restrictions to contain the spread of the infection. "With a decline in the number of active cases, many states and UTs have started relaxing restrictions. I would like to highlight that the decision to impose or ease restrictions has to be taken, based on the assessment of the situation at the ground level," Bhalla said, in the letter to states and UTs.

"While opening up, it would be extremely important to follow the five-fold strategy of Covid appropriate behaviour, test-track-treat and vaccination," he said. Bhalla said regular monitoring of appropriate behaviour is required to prevent relapse.

"A system should be in place at the microlevel to ensure that whenever cases rise in a smaller place, it gets checked there itself, through local containment measures as per the guidelines issued by the Health Ministry," the advisory added.