The process of identifying a covid ‘hotspot’ is not uniform: Lav Agarwal

Describing the manner in which government identifies Covid ‘hotspots’, Lav Agarwal, an official from health ministry, said ‘hotspots’ are an emerging concept which changes based on inputs and data of virus spread. The government is ensuring that these spots are effectively monitored so that the virus does not spread. Even an area with a single case can become a ‘hotspot’, if the government feels that there is possibility of a wider spread in that area, emphasised Agarwal.

The Centre is continuously identifying emerging “hotspots” of Covid-19 infection and employing a rigorous cluster containment strategy, added Agarwal. As we are dealing with a communicable disease, the government does not want to assign a particular number by which it decides to declare an area to be a ‘hotspot’, reiterated Agarwal.

The ministry has also framed essential features for ventilators to be used for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The features have been designed in collaboration with the Director-General (Life Sciences), Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).

According to health ministry officials: “It has been done to ensure availability of essential and very important medical equipment in the view of COVID-19. These features of ventilators include that the machine should be turbine/compressor based because the installation sites might not have central oxygen lines.”