Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya raises Covid concerns in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra which is now in Rajasthan. If it is not possible to follow Covid safety protocols, then the yatra should be stopped, Mandaviya wrote.Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya has written to Rahul Gandhi and Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot asking them to ensure that proper Covid guidelines are being followed in the Bharat Jodo Yatra which on Wednesday entered Haryana from Rajasthan. If it is not possible to follow the Covid regulations, then the yatra should be stopped keeping in mind the ‘public health emergency’ situation, the health minister’s letter said.
In the letter, the health ministry stressed on the use of masks and santisers in the yatra and that only vaccinated people should participate. The letter comes amid fresh health concerns triggered by the new wave of Covid in China. A similar upward trend in Covid cases has been noticed in Japan, South Korea, Brazil and the US which prompted the Centre to urge all states and UTs to gear up the whole genome sequencing of the positive cases.
In his letter to the states on Covid alertness, Mandaviya said the focus of the Centre will remain on its earlier five-fold strategy of test-track-treat-vaccination and adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour. The health ministry will also review the Covid situation in the country today with the secretaries of health and Ayush ministries, the Department of Pharmaceuticals and Department of Biotechnology, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Rajiv Bahl, Member (Health) of NITI Aayog V K Paul and National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) Chairman N L Arora and other senior officials.
