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Centre directs urgent action against COVID-19 surge in some States  

The Centre has written to Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra, Kerala, Delhi and Karnataka following a steady rise in the average daily new cases of COVID-19 in the past few weeks.

In its communication, the Centre said that in view of some changes in symptoms and clinical manifestation of the disease it is crucial to monitor and report district wise influenza-like illness (lLl) and SARI cases in all health facilities as per the guidelines. It also said this is vital to detect early warning signals of the spread of infection.

The Union Health Ministry cautioned that it was especially worried with the upcoming months which are likely to witness mass gatherings in context of various festivities to be held in different parts of the country.

Meanwhile, the States have also been requested to ensure effective compliance of these guidelines and its regular monitoring. Genome sequencing of prescribed samples of international passengers as well as collection of samples from-sentinel Sites (identified health facilities) and local cluster of new Covid-19 cases is equally important, said the Ministry.

The Ministry said that such samples must be sent promptly to the designated lab of the INSACOG network for Genome Sequencing. States have also been instructed to increase the pace of vaccination for all eligible populations and accelerate the administration of free precaution doses for eligible populations at all Government Covid Vaccination Centres.