Reiterating that state governments must observe all precautions and not let their guard down, the Union home ministry on Thursday extended the existing Covid-19 guidelines till February 28. It has asked the states to impose or lift local curbs on the basis of case positivity and hospitalization status in respective areas.
Issuing an order under the Disaster Management Act, Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla said the guidelines issued on December 27 last year to ensure compliance to the normative framework for taking evidence based Covid-19 containment measures at district/local level will remain in force till end of February.
He separately wrote to the chief secretaries of the states and union territories asking them to issue necessary directions to the districts and other local authorities concerned to take measures for prompt and effective management of Covid-19, strict compliance of various advisories issued by the central health ministry and strict enforcement of Covid-19 appropriate behaviour – social distancing and wearing masks.
“Due to the current Covid-19 wave, led by the new variant – Omicron, there has been a steady increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country and the active cases have increased to over 22 lakh. Though a majority of active cases are recovering fast and a low percentage of cases are in hospitals, it is still a matter of concern that 407 districts in 34 states and UTs are reporting a positivity rate of more than 10%,” Bhalla’s letter read.
Therefore, he added, looking at the current trends of the Covid-19 virus, there is a need to exercise caution and vigilance.
{{/usCountry}}Therefore, he added, looking at the current trends of the Covid-19 virus, there is a need to exercise caution and vigilance.
{{/usCountry}}The home secretary said, “In this background, I would like to reiterate that all the states/UTs must observe all precautions and not let their guard down.”
He asked the authorities to continue to take prompt and appropriate action. “Imposition and lifting of local curbs should be dynamic and should be based on case positivity and hospitalization status at the local level”.
The ministry has also told the states to focus on the five-fold strategy of Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination and adherence to Covid-19 appropriate behaviour to avoid any surge in Covid-19 cases, especially keeping in view Omicron, the new variant of concern (VOC).
The government has already clarified through previous orders that any person violating the guidelines will be “liable to be proceeded against as per the provisions of Section 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, besides legal action under Section 188 of CrPC, and other legal provisions, as applicable.”
India reported 2,86,384 new Covid-19 cases and 573 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union health ministry bulletin on Thursday morning.