Eight States Showing Rising Trajectory in Covid-19 Cases: Health Ministry

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A rising trajectory of daily new cases is visible in eight states and UTs, including Delhi and Maharashtra, while Kerala is showing a declining trend, the Health Ministry said on Saturday. The ministry said Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab cumulatively account for 76.22 per cent of India’s total active caseload, with Maharashtra contributing to 62 per cent of such cases, while Kerala and Punjab account for 8.83 per cent and 5.36 per cent of active cases respectively.

The top five districts in Maharashtra recording the highest number of cases are Pune (37,384), Nagpur (25,861), Mumbai (18,850), Thane (16,735) and Nashik (11,867). The top five districts in Kerala recording the highest number of cases are Ernakulam (2,673), Pathanamthitta (2,482), Kannur (2,263), Palakkad (2,147) and Thrissur (2,065).

The top five districts in Punjab recording the highest number of cases are Jalandhar (2,131), SAS Nagar (1,868), Patiala (1,685), Ludhiana (1,643) and Hoshiarpur (1,572). “A rising trajectory of daily new cases is visible in eight states. These are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana. Kerala is showing a consistently declining trend,” the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry further said that five states account for 81.38 per cent of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties at 70, Punjab followed with 38 daily deaths and Kerala reported 17 deaths in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, fifteen states and UTs have not reported any COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours. These are Assam, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Sikkim, Ladakh, Manipur, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Arunachal Pradesh.

The ministry further said India has scaled a significant peak in its battle against COVID-19 pandemic. The total vaccination coverage has surpassed 4 crore. “About 4,20,63,392 vaccine doses have been administered through 6,86,469 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am today. These include 77,06,839 healthcare workers (HCWs) (first dose), 48,04,285 HCWs (second dose), 79,57,606 frontline workers (FLWs)(first dose) and 24,17,077 FLWs (second dose), 32,23,612 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years with specific co-morbidities (first dose) and 1,59,53,973 beneficiaries aged more than 60 years,” it said.

As on day 63 of the vaccination drive (March 19), 27,23,575 vaccine doses were given. Eighty per cent of the 27.23 lakh vaccine doses administered in the last 24 hours are from 10 states. Of the total, 24,15,800 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 38,989 sessions for first dose (HCWs and FLWs) and 3,07,775 HCWs and FLWs received second dose of vaccine.

The ministry said eight states account for 60 per cent of the cumulative vaccine doses given so far. They are Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

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Maha, Punjab Tighten Covid-19 Curbs; India Records Biggest Surge in Cases in 4 Months

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Maharashtra and Punjab, which are recording a surge in new COVID-19 cases, tightened curbs on Friday and the chief minister of the western state said lockdown is an option, as India added close to 40,000 cases in the biggest daily increase in nearly four months. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, meanwhile, told Parliament that the COVID-19 vaccination drive will be extended in the coming days, and asserted there should not be any misconceptions about the two Indian vaccines being administered inthe country. He also said it is not necessary, scientifically, to administer the vaccine to each and every person in the country.

The Maharashtra government issued a notification asking drama halls/auditoriums to operate only at 50 per cent of their capacity till March 31, and warned they will have to remain closed for a period until the pandemic stays notified as a disaster by the Centre if there is any violation. Private offices, except those related to health and other essential services, have been asked to function only at 50 per cent of their capacity, it said.

A day after Maharashtra witnessed the highest one-day spike of 25,833 COVID-19 cases, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said lockdown is an option but he trusts people to follow the norms on their own. On Friday, the state recorded 25,681 cases, a health official said, adding Mumbai reported the highest spike of 3,062 new infections. Talking to reporters in Nandurbar, Thackeray also appealed to people to get vaccinated against the virus without fear.

The chief minister acknowledged that the COVID-19 situation has become grimmer as the number of new cases on Thursday crossed the earlier highest rise which was recorded in September. “I see lockdown as an option going ahead. But I trust people of the state to cooperate (and follow the COVID-19 norms voluntarily) like the last time.” After a review meeting, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh ordered a slew of restrictions beginning Saturday which included closing of all educational institutions till the month-end and curbs on cinema and mall capacities.

States likeMaharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Chhattisgarhare reporting a surge in the daily COVID-19 cases, accounting for over 80 per cent of the new infections, the Union Health Ministry said. Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 25,833 which is 65 per cent of daily cases. It is followed by Punjab with 2,369 while Kerala reported 1,899 new cases, the ministry said in its morning update. The new cases in Punjab rose by 2,490 on Friday, according to a state medical bulletin.

According to the ministry data updated on Friday. India reported 39,726 new coronavirus infections in a day, the highest single-day rise recorded so far this year, taking the nationwide COVID-19 tally to 1,15,14,331. The daily rise was the highest recorded in 110 days, while the death toll increased to 1,59,370 with 154 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. As many as 41,810 new infections were registered during a 24-hour period on November 29 last.

Registering an increase for the ninth day in a row, the total active caseload has reached 2,71,282, which now comprises 2.36 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 96.26 per cent, the data stated. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,10,83,679, while the case fatality rate has further to 1.38 per cent, it said.

Eight states including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryanaare showing an upward trajectory in daily new cases. The notification issued by the Maharashtra government said that in case of government and semi-government offices, the head of the office will take a decision regarding the staff attendance and ensure adherence to COVID-19 protocols.

As per the notification, drama halls and auditoriums will not be used for religious, political, cultural and social gatherings. On March 15, the state government had notified that cinema halls, hotels, restaurants and offices, except those related to health and essential services, will function at 50 per cent of their capacity.

But the Friday’s order has included drama halls and auditoriums as well. The order, however, allowed the manufacturing sector to function at full capacity, but advised that the workforce be reduced to ensure adequate social distancing on the production floor.

For the purpose of maintaining social distancing, manufacturing units may be allowed to increase working shifts as approved by local authorities. to check COVID surge. In the 11 worst-hit districts in Punjab, a complete ban has been ordered on all social gatherings, except for funerals and weddings, which will be allowed with only 20 persons in attendance. This will be enforced from Sunday.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh appealed to people to keep social activity at their homes to the bare minimum for the next two weeks to break the transmission chain, according to an official statement released in Chandigarh. Not more than 10 visitors should be entertained in homes, he urged chairing a meeting of the COVID task force.

“All educational institutions, other than medical and nursing colleges, will remain closed till March 31,” the official statement said. The chief minister also ordered compulsory wearing of face mask, directing police and the health authorities to take all those found in public areas without it to the nearest testing facility to ensure they are not asymptomatic cases.

The situation will be reviewed after two weeks, he said. Dr K K Talwar, who heads the state government’s expert team on coronavirus, told the chief minister that the surge in cases appeared to be the result of the opening of schools and colleges, with young asymptomatic people appearing to be spreading the virus.

During the Question Hour in Lok Sabha, Vardhan said India has vaccinated 3.5 to 4 crore people so far and side effects of the vaccines have been recorded at 0.000432 per cent. “Every vaccine doesn’t require universal immunisation and all these priority groups whom we are vaccinating today like healthcare staff first and then senior citizens and people aged between 45 and 59 years, it will be extended in the coming days all these are based on experts’ opinion.

“Not only Indian experts, but we have also consulted WHO guidelines regarding priority groups.” Serum Institute’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin have been currently approved for restricted emergency use in India. Replying to a question by NCP MP Supriya Sule on whether the government is aiming at universal immunisation of COVID-19 vaccine, Vardhan said it is not scientifically necessary to administer the vaccine to each and every person in the country.

“Not each and every person in the world will be vaccinated. The prioritisation process is a dynamic process. “The behaviour of the virus is also dynamic. All things are based on scientific facts, scrutiny and vision of the overall scientific and health community,” he said.

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Lockdown an option going ahead, says CM Uddhav as Maharashtra tightens Covid curbs | India News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said that lockdown could be an option to control the spread of coronavirus as the state continues to witness a worrying surge in cases.
Thackeray’s statement comes a day after Maharashtra registered its highest-ever single-day spike of 25,833 Covid-19 cases on Thursday.
Speaking about the alarming rise in cases, Thackeray said that the Covid-19 situation in the state has become grimmer as the number of new cases on Thursday breached the previous high which was recorded in September last year.
“I see lockdown as an option going ahead. But I trust people of the state to cooperate (and follow the Covid-19 norms voluntarily) like the last time,” he said.
However, the chief minister said that unlike the previous wave, now we have vaccines to fight the virus.
“When the pandemic began last year, there was nothing to fight the virus with. But now at least we have vaccines as a shield,” he said.
Thackeray said the priority now is to ensure that everyone is vaccinated and urged people to come forward to get inoculated without fear.
“There have been a few instances where a person caught infection after vaccination, but such cases are not life- threatening,” the chief minister said.
Fresh curbs in Maharashtra
Meanwhile, the state government has also announced fresh restrictions to curb the rise in infections.
According to the new guidelines, all drama theatres and auditoriums in the state will operate on 50% capacity till March 31 and no entry will be allowed without proper wearing of masks.
Theatres and auditoriums will not be used for cultural and political events, the order said.
All private offices have been asked to function at 50% capacity.
If found violating the norms, the premises will be shut down till the time Covid-19 stays notified as a disaster by the Centre, it said.
Earlier, the government had ordered cinema halls, hotels and restaurants to operate at 50 per cent capacity till March 31.

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Maharashtra: Mantralaya in Mumbai Faces Power Outage for Some Time, Say BEST Officials

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Mantralaya, Maharashtra’s state administrative headquarters in Mumbai, suffered a power outage shortly before noon on Friday, which lasted for around seven minutes, officials of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) said.

“The power supply to Mantralaya, Foreshore Road and Maharshi Karve Road was affected at 11.55 am due to a fault in the feeder. BEST engineers and technicians restored the power supply in just seven minutes,” BEST’s public relations officer Manoj Varade said.

BEST undertaking supplies power to nearly 10 lakh consumers in the island city area of the country’s financial capital.

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Govt departments under scanner as CBI conducts surprise checks at 100 locations | India News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: The CBI on Friday carried out preventive surprise checks at around 100 locations in over 15 states to identify central government offices where corrupt practices could be taking place, officials said.
The operation is going on at the offices of railways and income tax department among others in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and other places, they said.
The agency has coordinated with the vigilance teams of various departments to carry out the checks, they said.

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Parties misuse reservation policy for political gain, AG tells Supreme Court | India News – Times of India

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Expressing concern over political parties using reservation policy for vote-bank politics, attorney general KK Venugopal on Thursday told the apex court that it is unfortunate that such promise on the eve of elections is not treated as bribe.
Addressing a Constitution bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, L Nageswara Rao, S Abdul Nazeer, Hemant Gupta and S Ravindra Bhat on reservation for socially and educationally backward classes including quota for Marathas in Maharashtra, Venugoupal said states are allowed to identify backward classes for purpose of reservation.
He, however, submitted that it had become a regular feature of electoral politics to whip up sentiments of a particular caste or class on the eve of election by political parties by promising to include it within the ‘reserved’ category. “This unfortunately is not considered a bribe. It is very unfortunate,” he said.

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Bus Services Between MP and Maharashtra to be Suspended from March 21 to 31

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Persisting with the measures to curb Covid-19 spread, Madhya Pradesh government has decided to suspend inter-state bus service between MP and Covid-hit Maharashtra from March 21 to March 31. However, the movement of private vehicles between these states won’t be banned as of now. Maharashtra has reported close to 26,000 fresh cases of infections in last 24 hours.

A decision to this effect was taken during the Covid-19 review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at Mantralaya on Thursday evening. Those coming in from Maharashtra are being tested for the coronavirus infection and placed under isolation upon their arrival.

The state government, however, hasn’t taken any call on re-opening of schools from class 1 to 8 from April 1. It was expected that the state government could have a change of mind on the matter with a fresh wave of the fatal virus lashing the state, of late. However, it was decided that a separate meeting will be held on the matter.

The district administrations have been asked to increase strictness as fresh cases are on the rise and active cases have surged 6,000 mark. Homes reporting positive case will be marked as micro-containment zone and areas and localities won’t be blocked as it happened last year.

The chief minister expressed concern over the slow pace of vaccination and claimed that from March 20, the health machinery should chalk out a plan to administer five lakh doses per day. The state government is planning to complete two dose schedule for the eligible sections in next couple of months.

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Odisha to review testing strategy after PM pointed out over reliance on antigen kits | India News – Times of India

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BHUBANESWAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday pointed out overreliance of Odisha, besides Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, on antigen tests for Covid-19, prompting the state to review its testing strategy.
Modi, in a video meeting with chief ministers, pointed out overdependence of these states on antigen tests, saying, “This needs to change. RT PCR tests should increase to check infections. Around 70% tests should be done using RT PCR method.”
Though the Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik did not speak in the meeting, as this was part not part of the agenda, in a written submission he pointed out that the long period of this crisis has brought fatigue and complacency in following covid health protocols. “We need to be careful as multiple surges of covid spread is the reality in many countries and as witnessed in many states in India as well,” Naveen said in a statement.
Stating that going back to lockdowns would not be possible, Naveen said, “We cannot go back to the era of lockdowns. However, at the same time we need to ensure that the virus spread is also contained through renewed efforts in awareness and enforcement.”
“As a country with huge population, achieving herd immunity will be a long process and in the meantime we all need to be extremely careful,” Naveen said emphasizing that just because Covid vaccine is available now, there is no place for complaceny in observing covid norms.
Naveen said since Odisha is affected by disasters like cyclones almost every year, the administrative machinery is well prepared to deal with crisis situations that the pandemic has brought.
In the meeting CMs of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana besides administrator of Chandigarh, where the covid cases are showing rising trend, spoke. While home minister Amit Shah made introductory remarks and Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan made a presentation on the situation.
Additional chief secretary (health) Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra, who also attended the VC, said the state’s testing strategy would be reviewed with all laboratories conducting Covid tests on Friday.
The number of RT PCR tests conducted in the state is around 7300 out of the total more than 20,000 tests being conducted per day, the rest being rapid antigen tests. The number of RT PCR tests is less because the state has been conducting RT PCR tests on people with symptoms such as of fever, influenza like illness and severe acute respiratory illness. Since the number of such people is less, the overall RT PCR tests are less.
Mohapatra said to further increase the number of RT PCR tests, the state is planning to collect samples of people with any possible symptom returning from states such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab and Chhattisgarh and conduct RT PCR tests on them instead of antigen tests which is being done now at railway stations and airports.
On Wednesday, Odisha reported 82 new covid positive cases, which is the highest in a day in past two weeks, as it increased the number of tests done from around 20,000 to 25000 in past 24 hours.
The situation in Odisha continues to be firmly under control, Mohapatra said. In the first fortnight of March, the state’s case positivity rate is 0.33% while the average number of tests done per day is 21,231. The state has reported two Covid deaths this month.

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India adds 35,871 fresh Covid-19 cases, biggest single-day jump in 102 days | India News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: India on Thursday recorded 35,871 new Covid-19 cases, the highest single-day rise in over 100 days, which took the infection tally to 1,14,74,605, according to Union health ministry data.
Registering an increase for the eighth consecutive day, the active caseload reached 2,52,364, which accounts for 2.20 per cent of the total infections. The recovery rate further dropped to 96.41 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The death toll increased to 1,59,216 with 172 new fatalities, it stated.
The single-day spike of 35,871 cases is the highest in 102 days. As many as 36,011 new infections were recorded on December 6.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,10,63,025, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.39 per cent, according to the data.
India’s Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 23,03,13,163 samples had been tested up to March 17 with 10,63,379 being tested on Wednesday.
The 172 new fatalities include 84 from Maharashtra, 35 from Punjab and 13 from Kerala.
So far, 1,59,216 deaths have been reported in the country including 53,080 from Maharashtra, 12,564 from Tamil Nadu, 12,407 from Karnataka, 10,948 from Delhi, 10,298 from West Bengal, 8,751 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,186 from Andhra Pradesh.
The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

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India records 35,886 fresh Covid-19 infections, highest in 102 days | India News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: India recorded its highest Covid-19 tally in 102 days on Wednesday with 35,886 patients testing positive for the virus as Maharashtra continued to be the worst affected state, accounting for 64% of the daily count in the country.
Maharashtra added 23,179 fresh cases, the highest in six months since September 17 (24,619 cases). With this, Maharashtra reported a 30% increase in cases compared to Tuesday, taking the total caseload of the state to 23,70,507. From March 1-17, the daily cases in the state have risen four times.
The daily case count in several cities in Maharashtra was higher than the total case count of worst affected states like Punjab, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

For instance, Nagpur (with 2,698 cases) alone surpassed the daily count of the four states, which recorded cases in four digits — Punjab (2,039), Gujarat (1,122), Kerala (2,098), Karnataka (1,275). With 2,698 fresh cases, Nagpur city, for the first time in pandemic, registered more daily cases than Mumbai, which recorded 2,377 cases.
The tally in Mumbai was almost three times the tally on March 1 (855).
Apart from Maharashtra, as many as 17 states and Union Territories on Wednesday logged the highest count of fresh cases since January or earlier.

These were: Punjab (2,039 cases, highest since September 23), Karnataka (1,275, highest since December 9), Gujarat (1,122, highest since December 16), Tamil Nadu (945, highest since December 29), Chhattisgarh (887, highest since January 9), Madhya Pradesh (832, highest since December 31), Haryana (555, highest since December 20), Delhi (536, highest since January 6), Rajasthan (313, highest since January 13), Bengal (303, highest since January 24), UP (261, highest since January 26), Telangana (247, highest since Jan 20), Chandigarh (201, highest since September 26), Himachal (167, highest since January 1), J&K (126, highest since January 17), Uttarakhand (110, highest since January 23) and Puducherry (52, highest since December 2).

According to figures released by the Union health ministry in Delhi, daily new cases in the country are increasing at around 43% week-on-week, whereas a 37% rise in daily new deaths has been recorded.
Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said data shows that 70 districts in 16 states have registered over 150% increase in cases during March 1-15, whereas the infection is rising at 100-150% in 55 districts in 17 states.
“Most of these districts are in west and north India,” he said, adding that Maharashtra still accounts for 60% of all active cases as well as 45% of new deaths. The average daily new cases are also increasing rapidly in the state. The weekly moving average of new cases shows it has risen from 7,741 cases on March 1 to 13,527 on March 15.

The average test positivity rate at 16.4% in Maharashtra is far higher than the cumulative national average of 5%. On March 1, the positivity rate was at 10.9%. However, the tests to detect the infection have not increased proportionately with the test positivity rate, Bhushan said.
Similarly, in states like Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh, tests have failed to keep pace with increasing number of cases and positivity rates.

In many states and UTs like Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh, the share of RT-PCR is also significantly low.
The Centre has advised states witnessing a surge to increase tests in proportion to the positivity rate and also maintain the share of RT-PCR at a minimum of 70%.
The health ministry has also asked states to ensure strict adherence to mask wearing, physical distancing and hand hygiene along with greater vigilance and monitoring at the highest levels for all potential events where crowds gather.

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