On April 10 and 11, 2023, a state-wide mock drill will be undertaken to assess hospital preparation in light of the increase in COVID-19 cases. Both public and private facilities are anticipated to take part in the mock drill.

On Sunday, officials announced that the Health Minister, Mr. Mansukh Mandaviya, will visit AIIMS, Jhajjar, on April 10 to supervise the mock drill. In a review meeting held on April 7, Mr. Mandaviya urged health ministers of the states to visit hospitals and oversee the mock drills.

Mr. Mandaviya stressed the need to identify emergency hotspots by monitoring trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases, stepping up testing and vaccination, and making sure hospital infrastructure is ready in the virtual meeting with state health ministers, principal chief secretaries, and additional chief secretaries. He placed a strong emphasis on raising knowledge of COVID-appropriate behavior as well as improving genome sequencing and accelerating the whole genome sequencing of positive cases.

He added that the World Health Organization (WHO) is currently closely monitoring a variant of interest (VOI), XBB.1.5, and six other variants are under monitoring, namely BQ.1, BA.2.75, CH.1.1, XBB, XBF, and XBB.1.16. He also noted that 23 states and union territories had average tests per million below the national average.

(Source: https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/policy/nationwide-drill-in-hospitals-on-apr-10-11-to-check-covid-preparedness-mandaviya-to-visit-aiims-jhajjar/99359175 )