Giving details of coronavirus situation in the country, Bhushan said the previous highest surge has already been crossed and the trend is going upward and that is a cause for worry and that is something they continuously share with the states and UTs and try to help them tackle the pandemic in a more effective manner.
India's COVID-19 recovery rate rose to 63.13 per cent on Wednesday with a record 28,472 patients recuperating from the disease in 24 hours, while the case fatality rate further dropped to 2.41 per cent, the Union health ministry said.
The reason is that because of the hybrid immunity after three waves of natural infection and a large proportion of adults receiving both doses of COVID-19 vaccine, the susceptible pool has come down drastically, Lahariya said.
A constitutional amendment bill to restore the powers of the states to make their own OBC lists was passed by Parliament on Wednesday, with the opposition and treasury benches joining hands in the Rajya Sabha to approve the legislation.
Asserting repeatedly that the second wave of the pandemic is not over, the government said that though the situation is plateauing, the country is still reporting as high as 20,000-odd new infections every day.
"The national flag will be flown at half mast on October 9 in Delhi and capitals of all states and UTs where it is regularly flown, and also on the day of the funeral at the place where the funeral takes place," a home ministry spokesperson said.
"As most of these agencies carry out interrogation in their office(s), CCTVs shall be compulsorily installed in all offices where such interrogation and holding of accused takes place in the same manner as it would in a police station," the bench said in its order.
The total vaccinations across the country rose to over 15.66 crore.
With the recovery rate rising to 82.14 per cent, the ministry said India has maintained its top global ranking in total recoveries with such high successive single-day numbers.
The Bombay high court on Tuesday commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence awarded to sisters Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit, who were convicted by a Kolhapur court for kidnapping 14 children and killing five of them between 1990 and 1996.
Amid a scare about the spread of the Omicron variant, Delhi recorded 331 fresh coronavirus cases on Monday, the highest single-day rise since June 9, and one death in the past 24 hours, while the positivity rate mounted to 0.68 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reviewed the preparedness to deal with the situation arising out of the likely formation of Cyclone Jawad that is expected to hit the North Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coast and directed officials to take every possible measure to ensure that people are safely evacuated.
For the month of May, 4,03,49,830 vaccine doses have been made available by the Union Government to states.
The states need to identify the children in distress through outreach and surveys and prepare a database with a profile of each child, along with the details of their specific needs and requirements, and ensure that the data is uploaded on the Track Child portal.
The Centre has written to states and Union Territories to immediately undertake necessary measures to include people aged 45 and above in the COVID-19 vaccination drive and stated that registration on the Co-WiN portal for the same would begin from April 1.
Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan held a review meeting with states and Union Territories on Tuesday and advised them to ramp up testing for early identification and management of cases.
Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said that the government is committed to support and protect every vulnerable child who lost both parents to Covid.
Amid a rise in coronavirus cases and the threat of the Omicron variant, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Wednesday directed district magistrates to ensure no Christmas and New Year gathering takes place in the national capital.
Rai said as informed by the health ministry, the central government has been providing required technical and financial assistance to all states and Union Territories (UTs) for strengthening their healthcare system, including management of the COVID-19 public health challenge, from time to time, and the financial assistance to states and UTs is provided under the National Health Mission (NHM).
The ministry said the country has a robust system of reporting deaths, including those caused by COVID-19, and the data is compiled regularly at different levels of governance, starting from the gram panchayat level to the district level and the state level.
In a communication to the chief secretaries of the states and Union territories, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said the guidelines for the fourth phase of the lockdown were issued after taking the views of the states, following a video-conference held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with chief ministers on May 11.
The Centre asserted that it is regularly engaging with the states and Union Territories that are reporting a spurt in cases and those with a higher fatality rate.
It asked users to be alert against all attempts of phishing through fake domains, emails and text messages that promise registration for a jab against the pandemic.
"A first step in this direction is the new project launched by Kerala to eradicate extreme poverty. A survey, that is being conducted as part of it, will be completed within four months," the CM said.
In a letter to all states and Union territories, the ministry highlighted that under the emergency use authorisation, coronavirus vaccination is indicated only for 18 years and above. If required, COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines should be separated by an interval of at least 14 days.
The Centre wrote to all states and union territories on Thursday and asked them to make necessary arrangements for this, the Union Health Ministry said.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah took serious note of Maharashtra government's shifting patients lodged in mental health institutes to homes for beggars and asked it to discontinue the practice immediately saying it is counter-productive and runs against the provisions of Mental Health Act.
A total of 3,006 session sites across all states and union territories will be virtually connected during the launch at 10.30 am by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site.
Such persons are expected to obtain the advice of their doctor before deciding to avail of the precaution dose or third dose.
Amid a spike in Covid-19 infections in some parts of the country, the Centre on Wednesday asked states and Union territories to consider imposing local restrictions in public observance of the upcoming festivals and limit or do away with mass gatherings for effective control of the pandemic.
The Parliament on Tuesday unanimously passed the bill to restore the power of states and union territories to prepare and maintain their own list of socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs).
This decision of revised time interval between two doses is applicable only to Covishield and not to Covaxin vaccine, the ministry said.
Supreme Court judge Justice D Y Chandrachud has termed the delay in communicating bail orders to prison authorities as a "very serious deficiency" and stressed the need to address it on a "war footing" as it touches the "human liberty" of every undertrial prisoner.
The Centre submitted that it has sent communication to all states and Union Territories asking their comments on the issue and urged the court that the proceedings be adjourned till such time the inputs are received.
Goyal added the central government did mapping in a meeting with governments of 12 states and union territories most affected by COVID-19 and 6,177 metric tonnes of oxygen will be given to these states.
'If deaths had been properly reported, it would have helped contain the pandemic.'
Kerala, West Bengal and Delhi are proceeding towards a third peak.
A second wave of Covid driven by the Delta variant engulfed the country in May-June bringing the health system to its knees and leaving people gasping for help.
A dry run for COVID-19 vaccination will be conducted by all state and union territory administrations on January 2 to test the linkages between planning and implementation and to identify the challenges, the Centre said on Thursday.
The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of following single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, commodities shall be prohibited with effect from July 1, 2022: ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene (thermocol) for decoration; plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays; wrapping or packing films around sweet boxes, invitation cards, and cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners less than 100 micron, stirrers, the notification read. The provisions will not apply to commodities made of compostable plastic, the notification said.
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