India completes one year Coronavirus lockdown but coronavirus is still a major concern for the Government of India. Today India has reported more than 47,000 coronavirus cases. In wake of the increasing number of #Coronavirus cases the Delhi government has declared super spreader areas like cinema halls, malls, metro and religious place have been called ‘super spreader’ areas. All DMS have been instructed to increase surveillance in areas.
Chandigarh –With 81% of the latest 401 samples sent by the state for genome sequencing turning up positive for the new UK Covid variant, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday appealed to the people to get themselves vaccinated, even as he urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to widen the vaccination ambit to cover those younger than 60 since this mutant has been found to be infecting young people more.
Expressing concern over the emerging situation, the Chief Minister stressed the need for the central government to urgently open up the vaccination for a bigger section of the populace. The process needs to be expedited, he said, pointing to the fact that experts had found the existing Covishield vaccine to be equally effective against the UK variant – B.1.1.7. It was essential to vaccinate more and more people to break the chain of transmission, he added.
Captain Amarinder Singh appealed people to follow all Covid safety protcols
Captain Amarinder also urged the people to strictly adhere to all Covid safety protocols, including wearing of masks and maintaining social distancing. The state government, which has already announced fresh restrictions, would be forced to impose more curbs if the people do not follow the Covid appropriate behaviour, he warned.
The appeal from the Chief Minister came after the state’s Covid expert committee head, Dr K.K. Talwar, apprised him of the developments on the new variant in the state, which has been witnessing a surge in the number of COVID-19 positive cases during the last few weeks. The state health department had sent 478 COVID positive samples to NIB, IGIB, and NCDC for genome sequencing, of which results of 90 samples were received and those showed only two samples for N440K variant.
A team from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, visited the state to review the increase in positivity. The team was informed about the pending results of genome sequencing. Thereafter, 401 more samples, collected between 1.1.2021 to 10.3.2021, were sent to NCDC for genome sequencing. The result of these samples was worrying as it showed presence of B.1.1.7 variant in 326 COVID samples, said Dr K.K. Talwar.
The Chief Minister said he had been informed by Dr Talwar that though this UK variant B.1.1.7 is more infectious yet not more virulent. Further, the Oxford (Covishield) vaccine is equally effective against this new UK variant.
The B.1.1.7 variant is now spreading rapidly in many parts of the world, representing 98% of the new cases in UK and 90% in Spain. UK authorities have suggested it is up to 70% more transmissible than the original virus.
According to a provisional report issued by the health ministry, 46,951 new cases were registered in the last 24 hours. Of these, 84.49% are reported from 6 States of Maharashtra, Punjab, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 30,535 (65.03%). This is followed by Punjab with 2,644 while Kerala reported 1,875 new cases.
India’s total Active Caseload has reached 3,34,646 today. India’s present active caseload now stands at 2.87% of India’s total Positive Cases.
India’s cumulative recoveries stand at 1,11,51,468 today. The national Recovery Rate is 95.75%.
21,180 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours.
On the other hand, 212 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.
By Munesh Kumar
Chennai: Covid vaccine drive has been started for the general public in Chennai. Ahead of elections campaigning and Second wave of #COVID-19 Chennai corporation health department and inaugurated by the Chennai corporation commissioner has organised the vaccination drive for general public.
According to City health officer Dr.Jagadeesan ,” This drive was conducted for general public who cann’t reach to the primary health care centers in and around their localities.”
“This is the third phase of the drive but first for the general public. We just started this drive hope will have good response. f needed this kind of the drive may continue in future. We expect more than 2000 peoples today for the vaccine. We have both the vaccine COVISHIELD and COVAXIN.
Five States, Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu continue to report a surge in the COVID daily new cases. 83.7% of the new cases are from these five states. 40,953 new cases were registered in the last 24 hours.
Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 25,681. It is followed by Punjab with 2,470 while Kerala reported 1,984 new cases. India’s total Active Caseload has reached 2,88,394 today, comprising 2.50% of the total Positive Cases. A net incline of 17,112 cases recorded from the total active caseload in the last 24 hours.
188 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.
Clamping down heavily on the fresh Covid surge, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday ordered massive state-wide restrictions beginning tomorrow, with closure of educational institutions till March 31 and restrictions on cinema/mall capacities.
All educational institutions, other than medical and nursing colleges, will remain closed till March 31, with restriction of 50% capacity in cinema halls and not more than 100 persons in a mall at any time. He appealed to the people to keep social activity in their houses to the bare minimum for the next 2 weeks to break the transmission chain. Not more than 10 visitors should be entertained in homes, he urged.
In the 11 worst-hit districts, a complete ban has been ordered on all social gatherings and related functions, except for funerals/cremations/ weddings, which will be allowed with only 20 persons in attendance. This will be enforced from Sunday. In these districts, which will remain under night curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m, the Chief Minister has ordered cinemas, multiplexes, restaurants, malls etc to remain closed on Sundays, though home deliveries will be allowed subject to night curfew. Industries and essential services shall be allowed to function, but barring these, all restrictions shall be strictly enforced, the Chief Minister directed the top civic and police officials in these districts.
Also, starting next week, one hour of silence will be observed across the state every Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 12 noon, in memory of those who lost their lives to Covid, with no vehicle to ply at this time. The Chief Minister asked the district administration to involve the general public, along with market committees, Sarpanches etc, in this initiative, which will, however, remain voluntary for them.
In the 11 worst affected districts of Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, SBS Nagar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ropar and Moga, the Chief Minister ordered restrictions on in-person public dealings in government offices, with citizens to be encouraged to visit offices only for essential services. Captain Amarinder directed officials to encourage online and virtual modes for grievance redressal, and asked concerned departments to issue necessary instructions for limiting appointments per day for registries etc.
Though other districts will not be placed under such stringent restrictions for now, the Chief Minister ordered immediate reinforcement and strict monitoring of the strategy of micro-containment and containment zones where there are evident clusters. He made it clear that if necessary, strict curbs will also be imposed in other districts if the situation worsens and Covid protocols and norms are not adhered to be by the people.
The situation will be reviewed after two weeks, said the Chief Minister, chairing a meeting of the Covid Task Force with top officials.
Directing health officials to ramp up testing per day to 35,000, the Chief Minister said special focus should be on super spreaders, and Government employees, teachers in educational institutions, etc. must be tested routinely. RAT testing should be stepped up along with RTPCR testing, he ordered, while directing contact tracing and contact testing to be taken up to 30 per positive person. The CPTOs must personally monitor this task, he said.
The Chief Minister also directed the Department of Medical Education & Research to immediately complete recruitment of specialists/super-specialists.
Captain Amarinder said well-functioning hospitals, where serious cases are best handled, have been advised to restore the Covid beds and postpone elective surgeries.
The names of the COVID Monitors, who are appointed at every establishment and office- the names, should be available with the District Administration, along with their numbers, said the Chief Minister They shall be responsible for ensuring following of COVID Appropriate Behavior at their organizations, he said, adding that the Departments of Labor; Excise and Taxation, among others, must assist the Deputy Commissioners to enforce these instructions.
Dr KK Talwar, who heads the state government’s expert team on Covid, said the surge in cases appeared to be the result of opening of schools and colleges, with young asymptomatic people appearing to be spreading the virus. There was no evidence as of now to show that the spike was due to the mutants, as only 2 cases of new strains had been found in Punjab so far. The state currently has almost 40% cases from under 30 population, he added.
Five States, Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu continue to report a surge in the COVID daily new cases. 79.54% of the new cases are from these five states. 35,871 new cases were registered in the last 24 hours.
Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 16,620 (accounting for 63.21% of the daily new cases). Followed by Kerala with 1,792, while Punjab reported 1,492 new cases.
A rising trajectory of daily news cases is visible in 3 more states other than the 5 states mentioned above i.e, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana. Of which, Kerala is reporting a consistently declining trend over last one month.
172 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. Five States account for 84.88% of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties with 84 daily deaths. Punjab follows with 35 daily deaths and Kerala reported 13 deaths in the last 24 hours.
The Case Fatality Rate remains below 1.5% (1.39%) and is continuously declining.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has urged to all the stakeholders to come forward with more dedicated tests , trace and carry appropriate behavior.
In an official statement IMA has appealed and warned regarding the un-scientific drugs and procedures to treat COVID-19, “IMA urges all to come forward with more dedicated Test, trace and carry on appropriate protocol for treating without falling prey to un-scientific selfish centered promotion of certain drug and procedures.”
“IMA appeals to the people to not to get panic as India is fully powered to treat the acute effects of this disease and hence use designated centers of excellence for early treatment if you contact the disease and also avoid unnecessary travel and public gatherings.” it stated
The association has also requested people to take vaccination at the earliest without hesitancy and also adopt appropriate behavior.
“We request all our people to kindly take vaccination at the earliest ,spiritually adopt the principles of Covid appropriate behaviors like physical distancing, hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene and appropriate masking to protect the people from spread of Infection, Test, Trace and appropriate treatments as promoted by our Honorable Prime Minister shall be our tool to protect us from this pandemic. Vaccination drive should be promoted with much more fastness and even to the extent of providing them at doorsteps without any payments. The Covid protocol should be strictly enforced during the election rituals and more care to improve physical infrastructure of having well ventilated rooms, restrictions of continuous or cumulative contact time etc. in schools and polling booths.”
As on Day-62 of the vaccination drive (18th March, 2021), more than 22 Lakh (22,02,861) vaccine doses were given.
The number of COVID tests conducted across the country has crossed 23 cr. The cumulative national positivity rate continues to remain less than 5.00%. India’s tests per day per million population are more than 140 whereas the daily positivity rate is 3.77%, as of today.
On the other hand, total coverage of vaccine administration in India reached nearly 4 cr. 3,93,39,817 vaccine doses have been administered through 6,47,480 sessions, as of today’s provisional report. These include 76,35,188 HCWs (1st dose),47,15,173 HCWs (2nd dose), 78,33,278 FLWs (1st dose)and21,98,414 FLWs (2nd Dose),27,79,998 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years with specific co-morbidities (1st Dose)and 1,41,77,766 beneficiaries aged more than 60 years.
India’s cumulative recoveries stand at 1,10,83,679 today. The national Recovery Rate is 96.56%.