The 50 per cent capacity rule will not apply to offices dealing with health and other essential services.
Modi's last interaction with chief ministers was in January before the vaccination roll-out.
The number of COVID-19 cases are rising rapidly with 24,000 fresh cases reported in the last 24 hours, he said in an online media briefing.
A meeting between a delegation of the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) and Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya took place, but the doctors' body said, the 'response was not satisfactory'.
In a review meeting by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, these states and the union territory were asked to continue with rigorous vigil so as to contain the spread of infection as well as take steps to reduce fatalities.
The Kerala high court has directed the Centre to allow scheduling, on CoWIN portal, of second Covishield dose after four weeks from the first for those who want to take it earlier than the present suggested gap of 84 days.
Outlay for infra is also expected to see a significant increase in view of the government's Rs 111-trillion investment plan under the national infrastructure pipeline to develop social and economic infrastructure over five years.
India achieved this coverage in 130 days as against the USA's feat in 124 days.
The daily COVID-19 cases have remained below one lakh for 14 consecutive days.
In keeping with the committee's directives, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has been asked to arrange for more beds and increase testing across Mumbai, Tope said, adding that tents can also be put up in open grounds if needed. The IMCT on Wednesday visited quarantine facilities and transit camps at Dharavi to assess the corrective measures taken by the state government.
'If you delay the diagnosis even by 24 hours, in that 24 hours individuals would have affected more people.' 'So, contact tracing, testing, isolation, quarantine needs to continue.'
The National Health Commission (NHC) said that 32 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in the country on Thursday of which 28 were domestically-transmitted and four were imported. Of the domestically-transmitted cases, 25 were reported in Beijing, two in Hebei province and one in Liaoning province, it said in its daily report.
Expressing 'pain' at his death and extending condolence to the family of the doctor, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said his contribution to fighting the COVID-19 outbreak would encourage others.
In a massive surge, Delhi on Thursday recorded 15,097 fresh COVID cases, the highest single-day rise since May 8, and six deaths while the positivity rate mounted to 15.34 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.
This is the second day in a row that the case positivity rate has remained below 10 per cent, the ministry said. The weekly positivity rate has also declined to 11.45 per cent.
According to the latest health department bulletin, the positivity rate has also jumped to 9.55 per cent, amid the festive season and the rise in pollution level.
As the COVID wave gradually shifts to rural areas, several states are gearing up to check its spread through self-proclaimed lockdowns by Panchayati Raj institutions, creating a database of migrants and providing free online medical consultation to the sick.
Currently, domestic supplies and commercial imports of vaccines attract a 5 per cent Goods and Services Tax, while COVID drugs and oxygen concentrators attract a 12 per cent levy.
The prime minister also called for more RT-PCR tests.
The recovery rate among COVID-19 patients has increased to 64.51 per cent.
'The Centre is planning to procure five million vials of Remdesivir ahead of the third wave. What's better is that this time, the government is paying us in advance,' said a senior executive of a Mumbai-based pharma player which makes Remdesivir. Sohini Das reports.
As many as 1,578 dedicated COVID hospitals are providing quality medical care.
The government can verify 5 per cent of claims in four states -- Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh -- where the gap between number of claims and recorded deaths was wide, said a bench of Justices M R Shah and B V Nagarathna.
Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 653 Omicron cases followed by Delhi at 464, Kerala 185, Rajasthan 174, Gujarat 154 and Tamil Nadu 121 cases.
While some states are carrying out vaccination twice a week some others are carrying out four or more than four times a week.
Dr Karthiyayini Mahadevan, head, wellness and well-being, Columbia Pacific Communities, shares simple, useful tips to fully recover from COVID-19.
The first dry run of the vaccination drive took place across 125 districts covering all States/UTs on January 2. The dry run was also conducted to familiarise the state, district, block, and hospital-level officers on all aspects of the COVID-19 rollout.
With 4,20,898 samples tested in the past 24 hours, it added, the Tests Per Million has increased to 11,485 and continue to maintain an upward trend.
The death toll climbed to 4,98,983 with 1,008 fresh fatalities, including 500 from Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The number of active cases remained below 5 lakh for the sixth consecutive day. There are 4,65,478 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country as on date which comprise 5.26 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
The officials of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) also said there are now 1,065 testing labs in the country -- 768 in the public sector and 297 in private.
A DDMA meeting, chaired by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, also discussed ways to strictly enforce existing restrictions to check the rising cases of the coronavirus and its Omicron variant.
The Union health minister said of the total active COVID-19 cases in the country, 1.5 per cent are on oxygen support and 2.34 per cent are in ICUs.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7.
In a tweet, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, "7,040 people underwent rapid-antigen test at 193 centres across Delhi. Of this, 456 people have been found positive."
The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 50 days now.
The worker was vaccinated at about 11.30 am on Tuesday at a Primary Health Centre (PHC) in the district and he is said to have developed chest pain at around 2.30 am on Wednesday.
'I found it unbelievable that L&T said 45,000 jobs were waiting to be filled because of unavailability of suitable skillsets.' 'So, when the Opposition sweepingly says there are no jobs, I'm sorry... I'm not saying it's raining jobs, but there are jobs. The (skill) gap has to be bridged.'
'The situation is especially serious in major hotspot districts or emerging hotspots like Ahmedabad and Surat (Gujarat), Thane (Maharashtra), Hyderabad (Telangana), and Chennai (Tamil Nadu),' the MHA statement said.
"The idea came when one of the family members of our staff got infected from Covid and they needed medication. As you know the medicines can be expensive. At that time there were a few people who had recovered from Covid, so we decided to take their medicines and donate them," said Dr Raina.
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