As cases rise, govt asks 8 states to be proactive

Union government urges Maharashtra, Delhi, Bengal, Karnataka and few more states to ramp up testing and strengthen hospital preparedness

The Union health ministry has written to eight states and UTs to enhance testing, strengthen hospital preparedness, increase the pace and coverage of Covid-19 vaccination drive and ensure strict enforcement of restrictions to counter the spread of the infection.

In the letter, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan asked Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Jharkhand to be vigilant in view of the recent increase in domestic travel and various events such as marriages, festive celebrations, and vacations having either recently concluded or underway.

The letter was issued as the country reported the single-day rise of over 13,000 new Covid-19 cases after around 49 days and cases of Omicron variant rose to 961. Bhushan said it has been seen that there has been an increase in the cases and lessening of doubling time in detection of the cases in few states.

Delhi and Mumbai have reported a sudden and significant surge in cases in the last two weeks. “This issue needs to be addressed proactively and immediately to ensure that neither the transmission spreads further nor do we reach a situation of increased mortality due to late detection of the cases,” the letter stated.

As for Gujarat, the letter highlighted that the districts of Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Surat have reported a sudden and significant surge in cases in the last two weeks. Ranchi, Bengaluru Urban, Gurgaon, Chennai, Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban, Pune, Thane and Nagpur, and Kolkata have also reported a sudden and significant surge in cases in last two weeks, it said.

Immunity lasts for 9 months after Covid

The Centre said on Thursday that the durability of immunity post Covid-19 infection persists for about 9 months. It said 90% of India’s adult population has been administered the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 63.5% people are now fully vaccinated. The precautionary dose of the vaccine is primarily to mitigate severity of infection, hospitalisation and death, it said.

Denied ride, group damages buses

A group of people blocked the MB Road in New Delhi and damaged DTC buses on Thursday after not being allowed to board a vehicle that had exceeded the permissible passenger-carrying capacity. Delhi is in ‘yellow’ alert due to rising Covid cases.

3,48,22,040
Total no. of Coronavirus cases in India so far

4,80,860
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India so far

82,402
Total no. of active cases in India

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