PM Modi’s Principal Secretary reviews Covid situation in a high-level meeting

Pharma companies asked to keep a close watch on the global supply chain scenario & ensure adequate stocks and availability of all drugs

PGurus Newsdesk

January 1, 2023

Pharma companies asked to keep a close watch on the global supply chain scenario & ensure adequate stocks and availability of all drugs

PM’s key aide reviews states’ compliance with guidelines on Covid

On Saturday P K Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister chaired a high-level meeting with senior government officials and experts to review the status of COVID-19 in the country and compliance with the directions issued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a review meeting on December 22, said a source.

According to the source, Mishra was apprised of the evolving global scenario of the pandemic with the spike in Covid cases observed in some countries including China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Brazil, etc.

The Principal Secretary was informed that as per the directions of the Prime Minister, mock Covid drills were conducted at health facilities across the country on December 27.

All the states/ UTs participated in the mock drill to ensure operational readiness of the Covid-dedicated facilities with a specific focus on oxygen plants, ventilators, logistics & human resources, etc. A total of 21,097 facilities conducted the mock drill, of which 16,108 were government facilities, said the source.

At the meeting, Mishra was also informed that as directed by the Prime Minister, detailed guidelines for 2 percent random screening of international passengers on arrival were issued, and the process was initiated on December 24. As many as 1,716 international flights have been screened and 5,666 samples have been collected so far.

The guidelines for international arrivals were revised on December 29, under which from January 1, 2023, passengers arriving from China, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, and Japan have to mandatorily upload a negative RT-PCR report on the Air Suvidha portal. The test has to be conducted 72 hours prior to departure.

Monitoring of cases of SARI, ILI, and similar diseases to identify early warning signals has started in the states, and a weekly report of the same is being sent to Union Health Ministry, said the source.

During the review meeting, it was informed that strengthening whole genome sequencing (WGS) and ensuring that a larger number of samples are sent from across the country to the INSACOG Network is being done, as per the directions of the Prime Minister. Around 500 samples received during December are currently being genome sequenced at INSACOG labs across the country.

The meeting was informed that Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya held a meeting with the representatives of pharma companies and senior officials on December 29 to review the availability of medicines and monitor their stocks and prices.

The pharma companies have been asked to keep a close watch on the global supply chain scenario and ensure adequate stocks and availability of all drugs, including Covid medicines. The Ministry of Commerce has also been asked to monitor ongoing exports of medicinal products and equipment to China.

The source said that the status of Covid vaccination was reviewed by the officials and experts at the meeting. It was informed that more than 220 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered so far, including 102.56 crores first doses (97%) and 95.13 crores second doses (90%).

[With Inputs from IANS]

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