India’s total Active Caseload has reached 1,64,511 today. India’s present active caseload now stands at 1.48% of India’s total Positive Cases. 6 States – Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat- have shown a surge in new cases in the last 24 hours. The Centre has also deputed high-level multi-disciplinary teams to Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir (UT) to ascertain reasons for the surge and coordinate with the State Health Departments in COVID-19 control and containment measures.
The Centre has been engaging with the States and UTs exhibiting higher caseload of active cases and those reporting a spike in the daily new COVID cases. The Cabinet Secretary chaired a high-level review meeting yesterday with the States/UTs exhibiting a surge in cases including Telangana, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, MP, Gujarat, Punjab, J&K and West Bengal.
Cabinet Secretary reiterated that States need to maintain a continued rigorous vigil in terms of containing the spread and not squander away the gains of the collective hard work of the last year. They were advised not to lower their guard, enforce COVID Appropriate Behaviour and deal firmly with violations. It was strongly underlined that they need to follow effective surveillance strategies in respect of potential super spreading events. Need for effective testing, comprehensive tracking, prompt isolation of positive cases and quick quarantine of close contacts were also strongly emphasized.
On the front of COVID Vaccination, a total of 1,43,01,266 vaccine doses have been administered through 2,92,312 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am today. These include 66,69,985 HCWs (1st dose), 24,56,191 HCWs (2nd dose) and 51,75,090 FLWs (1st dose).
India is all set to start the second phase of Covid-19 vaccination on March 1st, 2021 for those who are over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions. To ramp up the Covid-19 vaccination capacity, around 10,000 private hospitals under Ayushman Bharat PMJAY and more than 600 private hospitals under the Central Government Health Scheme will be utilized. Other private hospitals empanelled under State Govts. Health Insurance Scheme can also participate as Covid-19 Vaccination Centres (CVCs).
