Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a virtual meeting with Chief Ministers during a Covid-19 review meeting. (Source: Narendra Modi/ YouTube) Urging all the state authorities to increase testing and ensure that people maintain Covid protocols, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday told state CMs to focus on night curfews and micro-containment zones while following the formula of ‘test, track and treat’ to bring the Covid situation under control.
Coronavirus in India April 9 Live Updates
PM Modi, who chaired a virtual meet with the state chief ministers in the wake of surge in coronavirus cases, said of late, both the people and state administration are exhibiting casual approach towards the virus. Stating that India had successfully brought down the number of infections when even vaccines were not available, he said that following Covid-specific SOPs is the only way to keep the virus away.
PM Modi also proposed to observe ‘Tika Utsav (vaccine festival)’ for COVID-19 from April 11 (Jyotirao Phule’s birth anniversary) to April 14 (B R Ambedkar’s birth anniversary) and asked everyone, including civil society members, youths, to come forward and help more and more people eligible for vaccination to get immunised during the period.
Centre, amid complaints of shortage in vaccine by Maharashtra, has decided to send 17 lakh doses instead of the earlier-promised 7.3 lakh. Informing about this, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that the state should get more of the vaccine as Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are getting over 40 lakh does, Gujarat over 30 lakh and Haryana over 24 lakh.
Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday announced a weekend lockdown from 6 pm on Friday to 6 am on Monday in a move to control the steep surge in coronavirus cases in the state. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said “appropriate action” will be taken for cities witnessing a rise in cases after a meeting. “For cities where cases have increased, appropriate action will be taken after meeting of crisis management group. We are making containment areas in big cities,” he added.
India detected 1,26,789 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the highest so far. Of the total, Maharashtra recorded a new high of 59,907 cases, while Chhattisgarh’s count went past the 10,000-mark for the first time. Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, too, reported more than 6,000 cases. The country also recorded 685 related deaths. India’s caseload now stands at 1,29,28,574, of which 8,43,473 are active cases and 1,18,51,393 people have recovered from the virus.
As Covid-19 cases in India hit a record high, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday held a meeting with state chief ministers to discuss the situation and the ongoing vaccination drive. Modi told chief ministers that the administration appeared lax in many states and urged them to strengthen their efforts for the next 2-3 weeks to check the spread of the virus on a “war-footing”.
In Punjab, every second infected person below 40
Every second person infected by Covid-19 in Punjab, which is witnessing a second wave of the contagion, is below 40 years of age. An analysis by the state health department of the Covid-19 data for 2021 has also revealed that at least 31 per cent of those who contracted the virus were aged 30 or less. However, a majority 60 per cent of those who died of Covid in Punjab were aged 61 or above.
Uttar Pradesh: Noida, Ghaziabad impose night curfew till April 17
In wake of rising Covid cases, the Noida and Ghaziabad administrations have announced a night curfew in the cities.
As per officials, the curfew will be in place between 10 pm to 5 am till April 17th. However, the movement of essential goods and services will be exempted from the order, officials said. Read more here
PM Modi urges people to observe 'teeka utsav' (vaccination festival) from April 11 to April 14. He asks all including civil societies, youths to come forward and help more and more eligible people to take vaccines during the period.
"People and authorities have become more casual than before. This has aggravated the Covid situation," said PM Modi.
With a number of states witnessing a second wave of coronavirus cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding a virtual meeting to discuss the COVID-19 situation and vaccination drive with chief ministers. During the meet, PM Modi told the CMs to focus on micro-containment zones and endorse ‘night curfews’ as ‘corona curfew’. Test, track and treat should be the formula to fight the virus, he said. “We should not take testing lightly. We should aim to bring down the positivity rate to below 5% everywhere,” he said.
With a number of states witnessing a second wave of coronavirus cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding a virtual meeting to discuss the COVID-19 situation and vaccination drive with chief ministers.
Chandigarh reports 324 new Covid-19 cases, taking the total number of cases to 29,521.
Mumbai reports 8,938 new Covid-19 cases, 4,503 recoveries and 23 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Delhi records 7,437 fresh positive cases and 24 deaths in the last 24 hours; active cases at 23,181, case tally 6,98,005.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa attends the virtual meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss Covid-19 situation with state chief ministers.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan tested positive for Covid-19, CMO Kerala tweeted on Thursday. "He will be treated at the Government Medical College, Kozhikkode. Those who have been in contact with him recently should go into self observation." it added.
Sachin Tendulkar discharged from hospital after recovering from COVID-19. He will be in home quarantine for few days.
Rajya Sabha MP and senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil wrote to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Thursday demanding setting up of a state helpline desk that people can be urged to approach. Gohil claimed that he has been getting several calls from patients seeking help and information regarding availability of ventilators, ICU beds and medicines for Covid treatment in Gujarat.
Gohil released a video statement on Wednesday claiming that there is a shortage of beds in ICU facilities and ventilators at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) Covid Hospital and other private Covid designated hospitals in Ahmedabad. Deputy Chief Minister and state Health Minister Nitin Patel had released a statement on Wednesday evening accusing the Congress of doing politics during the pandemicand “trying to mislead the people”. Read more
Union minister and senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar alleged on Thursday that five lakh doses of the COVID-19 vaccines were wasted in Maharashtra due to a lack of planning by the state government. Addressing a press conference at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office here, Javadekar, who himself hails from Maharashtra, said he has taken all the information and 23 lakh doses of the vaccines are available with the Maharashtra government. His remarks came after Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday said many inoculation centres in the state are being shut due to a shortage of the vaccines and that the state now has 14 lakh doses, which would only last for three days.
"I want to make it clear that the Maharashtra government has 23 lakh doses of the vaccines with it...which is a stock for five to six days. Now, to distribute in villages and districts is the responsibility of the state government," Javadekar said. --PTI
The Mysuru district administration on Thursday issued an advisory stating that it was "appropriate" for all those travelling to Mysuru from Bengaluru to have COVID-19 negative reports, not older than 72 hours at the time of travel. An advisory to this effect signed by Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Rohini Sindhuri was issued on Thursday. Noting the surge in COVID cases in Bengaluru city and district, it said, many people commute between Mysuru and Bengaluru on a daily basis for job and business reasons, also it being a tourist spot many tourists travel to the district from the state capital. --PTI
Noida and Ghaziabad administrations announced a night curfew in the wake of rising Covid cases in the state. According to officials, the curfew will be in place between 10 pm and 5 am till April 17. The movement of essential goods and services will be exempted from the order, said officials. The decision was taken by the administrations after a review meeting on the current Covid situation. The state government on Wednesday had authorised DMs in districts with more than 500 active cases to decide a further course of actions. The exceptions to the night curfew in Gautam Buddh Nagar will be according to the same order issued during last year's lockdown. People working for the government including police, hospital, fire and other essential departments will have to present their IDs upon checking. Media persons, grocery shop owners, petrol pump employees, telecommunication personnel, bank workers, ATM operators and other private institutions involved in essential work will also be allowed to move during the night if they carry authentic identification. -- Amil Bhatnagar reports
Passengers coming from Mumbai and Karnataka via flight will have to undergo mandatory Covid-19 tests in Assam even if they have got themselves tested elsewhere. There is no need of a night curfew at the moment: Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. (ANI)
Vaccination has been stopped at Satara, Panvel, Sangli districts citing no stock.
It's right and worrisome that mortality is increasing in the state but saying that vaccination isn't being done here is false. Centre's data show that Chhattisgarh is one of the top 4 states of the nation that have vaccinated more than 10% of its population: Chhattisgarh Health Minister TS Singhdeo. (ANI)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will not attend the virtual meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the Covid-19 situation with CMs, sources in the state government said on Thursday. Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay will be present in the meeting, they said. (PTI)