It noted that the government could not accurately anticipate the gravity of the possible resurgence of the pandemic and its subsequent waves.
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre that it may consider tweaking the protocols for the burial of bodies of COVID-19 victims in a way that essential tenets of the Zoroastrian belief are also taken care of.
"We are very worried about the rise in cases in Maharashtra. Don't take this virus for granted. It can come up unexpectedly. If we have to remain free of this virus, COVID-appropriate behaviour, containment strategy as well as vaccination has to be brought in," Paul said.
Timely, proactive, and graded strategy initiatives for effective coronavirus infection management in the country, led by the Centre and implemented by the states and Union Territories, have ensured that the actual COVID-19 caseload remains manageable.
On the COVID-19 tests, the Home Ministry also said from Thursday tests will be done with the new Rapid Antigen method approved by the Indian Council for Medical Research and Delhi will be given priority for these tests. It said 169 testing centres have also been set up across the national capital.
Several states have been reporting an uptick in the number of COVID cases over the last few weeks and nine states and Union territories have so far detected the presence of the JN.1 sub-variant of the virus.
The Maharashtra government has allowed all Covid-19 vaccination centres in the state to operate round-the-clock if they have adequate staff, to speed up the immunisation drive in the state.
The number of recoveries has surged to 14,80,884 with 53,879 coronavirus patients having recuperated and discharged in 24-hours, the highest in a day so far.
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Telangana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal -- contribute 85.5 per cent of active caseload and 87 per cent of total deaths in India.
The pandemic has changed the way people see the government. It has eroded trust in the administration's ability to tackle a crisis, any crisis, observes Devangshu Datta.
After recovering from COVID-19, Dr Ramswarup Choudhary was struggling with memory loss, sleeplessness and mental fatigue.
Still reeling under a deadly second wave of Covid-19, Maharashtra may witness a third wave of the infection in July-August, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Thursday.
The study also indicated that the risk seems to increase with each infection.
The Centre has asked states and Union territories to review, amend or do away with additional Covid-19 restrictions after considering the trend of new cases and positivity rate in their regions, citing sustained downward trend in the nationwide case trajectory.
Here's a look at just some of the bigwigs who took the anti-Covid jab.
NITI Aayog member (Health) V K Paul said, "COVID-19 situation is turning from bad to worse. In last few weeks, especially in some states, it is a huge cause for worry. No state, no part of the country or district should be complacent."
In order to bring uniformity, the need for following the existing framework for either imposition of restrictions or allowing relaxations based on the burden of disease and strain on healthcare infrastructure still remain important.
In a letter to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan highlighted that a few states were reporting a higher contribution to India's caseload, indicating the possibility of a localised spread of the infection.
The Centre on Tuesday asked all its employees aged 45 years and above to get themselves vaccinated to effectively contain the spread of COVID-19.
Maharashtra is in the beginning of a second COVID-19 wave, a central team report has said, highlighting that there is very limited active effort to track, test, isolate cases and quarantine contacts, and there is no adherence to COVID appropriate behaviour among people in rural and urban areas in the state.
The active cases count comprised 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate remained at 98.76 per cent, the health ministry said.
Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana has moved an 'emergency application' with the United States Supreme Court against his extradition to India, claiming that he will be tortured there since he is a Muslim of Pakistani origin.
The bench issued notice to the Centre and said it would hear the matter on Friday.
The Centre on Saturday strongly advised 12 states and Union Territories reporting a surge in coronavirus cases to significantly increase testing and ensure people follow COVID-appropriate behaviour, noting that one infected person could spread infection to an average of 406 individuals in a 30-day window without restrictions.
The Union health ministry is releasing funds for states and Union territories under the National Health Mission for implementation of phase 1 up to June 2020.
Rahul's remarks come against the backdrop when India reported more than 1.52 lakh new COVID-19 cases on Sunday. This is the fifth consecutive day when more than one lakh cases have been reported in the country.
The state governments and UT administrations should strictly enforce the test-track-treat protocol in all parts of the country, ensure observance of COVID-19-appropriate behaviour by everyone and, scale up the vaccination drive to cover all the target groups, the guidelines said.
As the news reached the woman's family members, they created an uproar at the centre and later senior officials including the district magistrate and chief medical officer were informed about the alleged negligence.
The ICMR-National Institute of Virology has been regularly undertaking studies to understand the protective efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines against emerging variants.
The Centre advised nine states including Assam, Bihar, Telangana and Odisha to ramp up testing with special focus on containment zones, strictly implement containment plan, augment health infrastructure and ensure effective clinical management of COVID-19 cases.
The UK Health Security Agency said EG.5.1, which has been nicknamed Eris, makes up one in seven new COVID cases.
The amount of financial assistance to each state and Union Territories is based on their COVID-19 caseload.
With projections suggesting the number of cases in the city will touch 75,000 by the end of May, civic authorities are working overtime to add to the number of beds.
More than 90 lakh Covid-19 vaccine doses are still available with states and Union territories which will receive over 7 lakh additional doses in the next three days, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday.
According to the health department, both samples have been sent for whole genome sequencing.
The swab samples of the pangolin has been collected for the coronavirus test
35 districts have been reporting high active COVID-19 caseload and fatality rate. These 35 districts comprise all 11 districts in Delhi, Kolkata, Howrah, North 24 Parganas and 24 South Parganas in West Bengal; Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban, Kolhapur, Sangli, Nashik, Ahmednagar, Raigad, Jalgaon, Solapur, Satara, Palghar, Aurangabad, Dhule and Nanded in Maharashtra; Surat in Gujarat; Pondicherry in Puducherry and East Singhbhum in Jharkhand.
All medical establishments like medical colleges (allopathic, homoeopathic and AYUSH), health centres, private healthcare units and polyclinics have been asked to send the list of workers, the senior official of the Health department told PTI.
A study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has observed that COVID-19 vaccination did not increase the risk of unexplained sudden death among young adults in India, the government informed Parliament on Friday.
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.
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