MHA New COVID Guidelines April 2021
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on 23 March 2021 issued new guidelines for effective control of COVID-19 which will be effective from April 1 to April 30, 2021. The guidelines mandate the State/UT governments to strictly enforce the Test-Track-Treat protocol in all parts of the country.
MHA Guidelines for effective control of COVID-19
- The main focus of the Guidelines is to consolidate the substantial gains achieved in containing the spread of COVID-19, which was visible in the sustained decline in the number of active cases, continuously for about 5 months.
- Keeping in view a fresh surge in COVID-19 cases, which is being witnessed in some parts of the country, the guidelines mandate the State/ UT Governments to strictly enforce the Test-Track-Treat protocol in all parts of the country; ensure observance of COVID-19 appropriate behavior by everyone; and, to scale up the vaccination drive, to cover all the target groups
- It is also emphasized that in order to ensure that the resumption of activities is successful and to fully overcome the pandemic, there is need to strictly follow the prescribed containment strategy, and strictly observe the guidelines/ SOPs issued by MHA and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MOHFW) and other Ministries/ Departments of the Central Government and State/ UT Governments.
Test-Track-Treat Protocol
- States and UTs, where the proportion of RT-PCR tests is less, should rapidly increase it, to reach the prescribed level of 70 percent or more.
- The new positive cases, detected as a result of intensive testing, need to be isolated/ quarantined at the earliest and provided timely treatment.
- Further, as per the protocol, their contacts have to be traced at the earliest, and similarly isolated/ quarantined.
- Based on the positive cases and tracking of their contacts, Containment Zones shall be carefully demarcated by the district authorities, at the micro level, taking into consideration the guidelines prescribed by the MoHFWin this regard.
- The list of Containment Zones will be notified on the websites by the respective District Collectors and by the States/ UTs. This list will also be shared with MoHFW on a regular basis.
For more details download the MHA New COVID-19 Guidelines April 2021 in PDF format using the link given below or an alternative link.
