India on Monday witnessed yet another decrease in its daily coronavirus disease (Covid-19) caseload, with 37,154 new cases which took its cumulative tally to 3,08,74,376, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare’s bulletin at 8am. As many as 724 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours, the bulletin showed, adding that 39,649 people recovered from the infection.
After Monday’s numbers, the death toll and total recoveries in India due to Covid-19 now stands at 408,764 and 30,014,713, respectively. The active cases have also came down to 450,899, and account for 1.47 per cent of the overall caseload.
The situation is an improvement from Sunday's tally when 41,506 cases and 895 fatalities were reported. The total recoveries too have gone down 1,877 in comparison to yesterday's data.
Over the last few days, travellers were seen thronging the popular hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, with most of them flouting Covid-19 norms such as wearing masks and maintaining social distance. This comes at a time when the fear of a third wave of Covid-19 looms. The health ministry and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have already cautioned the tourists about revenge travel, with ICMR director general Dr Balram Bhargava terming the tourists’ rush as “frightening”.
Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla also chaired a meeting on Saturday that saw the attendance of Niti Aayog member VK Paul, police chiefs, chief secretaries, and principal secretaries of eight states as well. After the meeting, the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) in a statement said that while the decline of the Covid-19 second wave is at “variable stages” in different states and Union territories (UTs), the case positivity rate in certain districts of Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand is “over 10 per cent, which is a cause for concern”.
{{/usCountry}}Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla also chaired a meeting on Saturday that saw the attendance of Niti Aayog member VK Paul, police chiefs, chief secretaries, and principal secretaries of eight states as well. After the meeting, the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) in a statement said that while the decline of the Covid-19 second wave is at “variable stages” in different states and Union territories (UTs), the case positivity rate in certain districts of Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand is “over 10 per cent, which is a cause for concern”.
{{/usCountry}}According to the statement, states and UTs were also asked to follow the “five-fold strategy of Test-Track-Treat-Vaccinate” along with Covid-19-appropriate behaviour.
Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jairam Thakur recently appealed to the tourists coming to the state to follow Covid-19 rules. “We are concerned about the number of tourists coming to the state,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
His remarks came after visuals of travellers roaming around Manali, without wearing masks and maintaining social distance, surfaced on social media.