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As Covid-19 cases rise, Centre asks states to deal Covid-19 violations firmly
Cabinet secretary met the chief secretaries of Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir — states that have been reporting a surge in the active caseload or the number of cases in the past week.
The Centre has asked the states to not let their guards down in the fight against Covid-19, as some states have reported an increase in the number of infections. In a meeting with the chief secretaries of some states, Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba asked the states to enforce Covid appropriate behaviour and deal firmly with any violations of such norms, to further prevent the spread of the disease.
On Saturday, the cabinet secretary met the chief secretaries of Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir — states that have been reporting a surge in the active caseload or the number of cases in the past week.
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The meeting was chaired as six states - Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat - have reported a surge in the number of cases in the past 24 hours, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare.
Maharashtra has reported more than 8,000 daily new Covid-19 cases for the past three days and more than 5,000 new cases since February 19, according to data from the health ministry. On February 25, the state reported 8,807 cases, the highest this month. However, with 8,702 cases on February 26 and 8,333 cases on February 27, a slight decrease in the number of cases has been reported. With 622 cases reported on Saturday, Punjab too had witnessed an increase in the daily new cases since the beginning of February. It is also among one of the six states that have contributed to nearly 85 per cent of India’s new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, the health ministry said.
Meanwhile, the government has paused the Covid-19 vaccination drive on Saturday and Sunday as the Co-Win digital platform is being upgraded to Co-Win 2.0 version. Beginning from March 1, the vaccination program would be expanded to include people in the 45-59 years age group with co-morbidities, the health ministry announced on Friday.
