THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the wake of the rising COVID cases across the nation, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya asked the states to remain alert to the new variants. He also asked the states to monitor emerging evidence of COVID cases, symptoms and case severity to plan appropriate public health response.
The minister was speaking at a meeting of state health ministers convened by him on Wednesday.
The daily Covid cases in Kerala increased to 519, which is the highest in the last seven months, on Wednesday. There were three deaths and the number of active cases crossed 2,000.
During the meeting, Health Veena George asked the Union minister to release the Central government’s share in the National Health Mission. She said that the funding has been stalled despite the state completing the co-branding process as directed by the Centre.
While the Centre gives Rs 862 cr, the state provides Rs 551 crore for the NHM. The Centre is yet to pay `278.4 crore though the time for three instalments has passed. As a result, the NHM in the state is increasingly using state funds for managing its projects.
Karnataka second active covid cases:
In the state-wise status of COVID-19 as of December 20, Karnataka stands second in India, next to Kerala in terms of total active cases, as per the data shared in the Health Ministry’s review meeting. As on Wednesday, there was a total of 2,305 active cases across the country, Kerala had 2,041 cases while Karnataka had 79 active cases with an increasing trend of new cases.