A mock drill will be held on Tuesday across a number of health facilities in several states and Union Territories to ensure their readiness to deal with any eventuality related to COVID-19, following an advisory by the Centre.
Agarwal said that the current 'R0' or R naught for the coronavirus infection is somewhere between 1.5 and 4.
Labour ministry guidelines say workers returning to cities must get housing, health insurance, facemasks. The Centre has also asked states to issue guidelines to employers to take care of the needs of migrant workers.
The Goa government will not impose any COVID-19-related restrictions till January 2 but will review the situation on January 3, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Friday after chairing a high-level meeting in Panaji.
In a letter to states and UTs, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan stressed on monitoring and reporting of district-wise influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) cases in all health facilities on a regular basis for detecting the early rising trend of cases.
Early detection will bring down the mortality rate, the minister said, adding that the government plans to increase institutional quarantine facilities.
Each state has its own weak areas that need attention. Some states have already identified the gaps and sought the Centre's help. Vinay Umarji, Ishita Ayan Dutt, Samreen Ahmad and Sohini Das report.
The recoveries have surged to 20,37,870 in the country, while there are 6,76,514 active cases of COVID-19, according to the data updated at 8 am. The record high recoveries have ensured that active cases of coronavirus infection, the 'actual caseload' of the country, currently comprises less than 1/4th (only 24.45 per cent) of the total cases.
The Union health ministry on Tuesday said that aid received from other countries has been distributed in different states to help deal with the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
Over the past six months, the neighbourhood primary health centres have remained largely ill-equipped and thus relegated in the fight against the virus. Nitin Kumar reports.
"The recovery rate is 58.56 per cent amongst COVID-19 patients," the ministry said.
Apart from the 1.1 crore doses of Covishield being procured from the Serum Institute of India, 55 lakh doses of indigenously developed Covaxin were being obtained from Bharat Biotech, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a press conference.
As the possibility of a COVID-19 third wave escalates by the day, Indians continue their relentless battle against the virus.
Hardly anyone wears a mask and most brush off concerns over a pandemic. It is not just scepticism over the existence of the pandemic. A common refrain across villages is the fear of vaccines, reports Ruchika Chitravanshi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused Delhi's Aam Aadmi Party government of wasting a decade fighting with the Centre and urged its people to give the Bharatiya Janata Party an opportunity to turn the national capital into a city of the future.
The trauma centre currently has 242 beds and 18 more are being added to it.
As the COVID-19 vaccination of children falling into the age bracket of 15 to 18 years is scheduled to begin from January 3, the Kerala health department has prepared an action plan for inoculation of all eligible beneficiaries.
The government also decided to make face masks mandatory in closed spaces and airconditioned rooms.
Battling the virus, enduring separation from loved ones, and working extended hours became part of the job.
An important focus of the dry run will be on management of any possible adverse events following immunisation.
The end-to-end exercise was undertaken in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, Rajkot and Gandhinagar of Gujarat, Ludhiana and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar of Punjab, and Sonitpur and Nalbari districts of Assam on Monday and Tuesday.
The Supreme Court Thursday appreciated the Centre's step to grant ex gratia assistance to the kin of those who died due to COVID-19 saying it has to take judicial notice of the fact that what India has done, no other country has been able to do.
Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal claimed that India has been doing better than many other countries on the outcome ratio, which is the number of recoveries from coronavirus infection versus the number of deaths.
India has administered more than 88.13 lakh Covid-19 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, the highest ever vaccination achieved in a single day, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday.
Vardhan also expressed hope about having a vaccine against COVID-19 by the end of this year.
'iNCOVACC' is priced at Rs 800 for private markets and at Rs 325 for supplies to the government of India and state governments.
Amid a surge in coronavirus cases, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday replaced his 'Team-11', a group of officials tasked with managing the crises, with a new nine-member set of ministers and bureaucrats.
The death toll due to the coronavirus infection rose to 7,466 and the cases mounted to 2,66,598 in the country.
The city's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has put in place all necessary measures to implement the health ministry's latest COVID-19 guidelines on international passengers arriving in India, the private airport operator said on Wednesday.
The health ministry on Saturday recommended the use of antiviral drug remdesivir in moderate stage of COVID-19 while backtracking from its earlier stance on hydroxychloroquine, saying the anti-malarial drug should be used in the early course of the disease and not on critically ill patients.
During a virtual meeting with health ministers and senior officials of states in view of the recent surge in coronavirus cases in some parts of the world, he said, "The Centre and states need to work in tandem and in a collaborative spirit as was done during the previous surges for Covid prevention and management."
Criticising the handling of the COVID-19 crisis in Uttar Pradesh, a ruling party leader has claimed that at least 10 people died in every village during the second wave as no lessons were learnt from the first one.
On Tuesday, Mandaviya had written to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot asking them to strictly follow the COVID-19 guidelines during the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Five to 10 per cent of the active Covid cases this time so far needed hospitalisation but the situation is dynamic and may change rapidly, the Centre said on Monday and asked states to keep a watch on cases under home isolation and in hospitals.
India logged 26,964 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,35,31,498, while the active cases declined to 3,01,989, the lowest in 186 days, according to the Union health ministry data updated.
Nasreen, who served as the director of the Indian Cultural Centre at the high commission of India in Male, Republic of Maldives, from 2019 to 2023, shared insights into the growing influence of China and Pakistan in countering India's soft power.
A record 14,92,409 tests have been conducted for detection of COVID-19 in a span of 24 hours.
'The government is scared of this Congress yatra, that is why various orders and letters are being issued'
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