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Delhi mulls night curfew, PM Modi to meet CMs as wave surges
Across the nation, the figures reported from weekend testing was lower than that of Saturday’s, but the country has surpassed the peak seen in the first wave in September.
A night curfew is likely to be announced in the national capital, officials aware of the preparations in Delhi said on Monday, while the Union government separately announced the Prime Minister will meet chief ministers of all states for a review meeting later this week as the swelling Covid-19 outbreak triggered more alarm nationwide.
The remarks came as the Capital registered 3,548 new cases – a number that was slightly lower than the day before, although this was due to fewer tests. Consequently, the test positivity rate inched above 5%, the threshold that the World Health Organization identifies as ideal for an outbreak to be considered as under control.
“The night curfew is being considered in wake of the resurgence of cases. The government is yet to decide on the exact time during which it will be in force and the date when it will take effect,” said a Delhi government official, asking not to be named.
Across the nation, the figures reported from weekend testing was lower than that of Saturday’s, but the country has surpassed the peak seen in the first wave in September.
The Union government has now decided to dispatch 50 high-level, multi-disciplinary public health teams to districts across Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Punjab, where the situation is particularly worrying.
“The teams are being rushed to 30 districts of Maharashtra, 11 districts of Chhattisgarh and 9 districts of Punjab to assist the state health departments and local authorities in Covid-19 surveillance, control and containment measures,” the Union health ministry said in a statement on Monday.
This is the biggest contingent of central experts rushed at once since the pandemic began in the country.
Ahead of Modi’s meeting with CMs, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan will take a detailed review meeting on Tuesday evening (around 6pm) with of representatives of 11 states where the outbreak is particularly high, the government said.
