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Amid the alarming rise in COVID-19 cases across the country, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday held a review meeting with Southern states and UT's and stressed upon e-Sanjeevani, teleconsultation, monitoring, home isolation and increasing RT-PCR tests in states which are reporting lower percentage testing.

Mandaviya conducted a high-level meeting in the context of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 with Health Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Island. Earlier, he conducted a high-level meeting with nine Northern States and UTs and advised them to send COVID testing and vaccination data timely.

The Union Health Minister also said that testing should be ramped up in the States where it has gone down. He also advised states and UTs to ensure that those in home isolation are efficiently monitored in line with the National Guidelines. He said, "This will ensure that the vulnerable categories of active cases in home isolation get the required medical help in a timely manner." The Union Health Minister re-emphasised the need for ramping up testing in the states and UTs.