MHA keeps Covid guidelines unchanged till March 31 as India witnesses spurt in cases

New Delhi: The Home Ministry said the existing COVID-19 guidelines will remain in force till March 31 as India recorded its single-day increase in Coronavirus cases above 16,000 for the second consecutive day. The infection tally rose to 1,10,63,491, while the recoveries have surged to 1,07,50,680.

A total 16,577 infections were reported in a day, while the death toll increased to 1,56,825 with 120 new fatalities. According to the health ministry data, the Union Territory of Lakshadweep has reported its first death.

The number of active cases increased to 1,55,986, which accounts for 1.41 per cent of the total infections, the data stated. Twenty states and UTs have not reported any COVID-19 deaths in a span of 24 hours, while 21 states and UTs have less than 1,000 active cases,

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,07,50,680 which translates into a national recovery rate of 97.17 per cent. The case fatality rate stood at 1.42 per cent.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 21,46,61,465 samples have been tested up to February 25, of which 8,31,807 samples were tested on Thursday.

In a statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said while there has been a substantial decline in the active and new COVID-19 cases, there is need to maintain surveillance, containment and caution so as to fully overcome the pandemic.

The states and union territories have also been advised to speed up the vaccination of the target population so as to break the chain of transmission and overcome the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered to healthcare and frontline workers has crossed 1.37 crore in the country. As per the provisional report till Friday 6 pm, a total of 1,37,56,940 vaccine doses have been given through 2,89,320 sessions 66,37,049 (76.6 per cent) healthcare workers (HCWs) who got their first dose, 22,04,083 (62.9 per cent) HCWs who received their second dose and 49,15,808 (47.7 per cent) frontline workers (FLWs) who were administered their first dose.

While the countrywide inoculation drive was rolled out on January 16, vaccination of frontline workers started from February 2. As India gears up to vaccinate people above 60 years of age and those over 45 years with comorbidities against COVID-19 from March 1, the Union Health Ministry said the facility of on-site registrations will be available so that eligible beneficiaries can walk into identified vaccination centres, get themselves registered and get inoculated.