SHILLONG, July 28: With authorities confirming that 100% of all COVID cases reported in the state are of the Delta strain it is anticipated that the number of cases will start rising and the hospitalization and fatality rates will also increase.
“The situation is more challenging for us as a whole because this variant is not good news. The Delta variant is more infectious as it spreads even with a short exposure,” Principal Secretary, Health, Sampath Kumar said on Wednesday.
He said that asymptomatic people can transmit the virus faster to other people and therefore, testing and early treatment is important to help stop the chain of transmission.
Reiterating that vaccination is the only solution, Kumar said, “Once people are vaccinated the chances of the virus spreading will come down by almost 80 percent and hospitalisation rate will also fall.”
He informed that the current hospitalization rate is 10 percent but if people are vaccinated the infection rate will come down significantly and the hospitalization would come down to around 3 percent while the chances of survival will increase manifold.
“The infection rate in unvaccinated cases will be 100% and it will have an incapacitating effect on the health system across the state, and this has to be avoided as far as possible,” he added.
He informed that in order to avoid putting a strain on the health system and to prevent severe illnesses and deaths, the health authorities are intensifying the vaccination efforts and all the deputy commissioners have been asked to increase the number of vaccination sites and sessions.
In order for the vaccination drive to succeed, focus must be built around establishing and gaining the confidence of the people in their larger interest, he said. “For this purpose joint mobilization teams will be formed at every PHC/CHC level to conduct intensive awareness programmes and face-to-face meetings with citizens,” he added.
It was also informed that the Block COVID war rooms will assist the mobilization teams in coordinating these exercises on a daily basis in coordination with the headmen, village councils and self-help groups.
The joint mobilization teams would consist of representatives from the Health, C&RD and Social Welfare departments and would also include public health educators, ANMs/vaccinators, ASHAs, MGNREGA and National Rural Livelihoods Mission cluster coordinators, PHC workers and supervisors.