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'Be watchful': Centre's word of caution for Delhi-NCR as Covid-19 cases rise
"The pandemic is not over until it's over," Niti Aayog (health) member VK Paul said on Thursday.
As the number of Covid-19 cases is rising across the country, the Centre sounded a word of caution for states which are not yet seeing a surge but are at the threshold. Niti Aayog (health) member VK Paul on Thursday said the situation of Maharashtra is worrying as part of the state is going back to strict lockdown. But Maharashtra is not the single reason for concern. "Would like to caution Delhi-NCR, Gurugram, part of Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad too some extend. These areas are seeing a slight rise in the number of cases," Paul said adding that the pandemic is not over yet.
Maharashtra Covid-19 situation very worrying, says Centre as lockdowns return
"The pandemic is not over until it's over. We are in a position to give a strong fight against the virus as we have vaccines now. Nobody should take the virus for granted. Nobody should lower their guard," Paul said.
Delhi on Thursday reported 409 new infections, which is the highest in more than two months. On January 3, the Capital recorded 424 daily cases.
For the past few days, Delhi has witnessed an uptick in the number of daily Covid-19 infections as the number stayed above 300. Noida is reporting an average of 10 to 15 new infections per day and the number of daily infections in Gurugram is between 60 to 80.
Delhi health minister Satyender Jain has recently dismissed the rise as worrying as he said Delhi has entered the endemic stage where a disease, in this case Coronavirus, becomes prevalent among the population, but the intensity recedes. However, the Centre has been constantly pointing out that Delhi is one of the states that is showing an upward trajectory in the number of daily cases, though it is not among the top six contributing states.
India on Thursday recorded 22,854 new Covid-19 cases which has been the highest in many months. Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu reported 86 per cent of new cases. Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Haryana are the states in focus as their daily increase is also significant.
