Union Health Minister Secretary Rajesh Bhushan along with NITI Aayog Dr Vinod K Paul chaired a high-level meeting on Wednesday to review the Covid situation in 5 states of Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand, where a high number of daily Covid-19 cases are being reported.
Five critical areas of action were discussed for addressing the needs and challenges of the recent phase of the COVID 19 pandemic in these states, which have seen an unprecedented surge in the number of daily cases and increased mortality.
“Evidence suggests that the pandemic is moving eastwards and a rise has been observed in the number of daily cases in these states along with rising mortality,” the ministry said in its statement.
Underscoring the critical importance of human resources in providing health services and clinical management of the severe COVID patients in the hospitals, the states were advised to ensure that performance-linked payments of the Community Health Officers (CHOs) at the Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) and the incentives to the ANMs and other health workers are paid timely, the statement stated.
