"Test-Track-Treat", "Covid-Appropriate Behavior" In New Rules For States

All states must strictly enforce the test-track-treat protocol and ensure Covid-appropriate behavior to check the spread of the coronavirus, say the Home Ministrys new guidelines, effective for the month of April.

States can bring in restrictions locally, based on their assessment, but no activity will be restricted outside containment zones, the government said today in new guidelines to tackle a spike in Covid cases in parts of the country. All states must strictly enforce the test-track-treat protocol and ensure Covid-appropriate behavior to check the spread of the coronavirus, say the Home Ministry's new guidelines, effective for the month of April. The centre has also asked states to rapidly step up vaccinations to cover all priority groups at the earliest. The vaccine drive has seen “uneven pace” across different States and Union Territories and the slow pace of vaccination in some states “is a matter of concern”, says the home ministry. “Vaccination against COVID-19, in the present scenario, is critical to break the chain of transmission. Therefore, all state/UT governments should rapidly step up the pace of vaccination, to cover all priority groups in an expeditious manner,” it says.