'People must celebrate festivals at home, avoid mass events'
New Delhi: Mass gatherings should be discouraged but if attending it is essential then full vaccination should be a prerequisite, the Union government said on Thursday and urged people to get the jabs and follow Covid-appropriate behaviour, especially during the festive season.
In a press conference, it warned the second wave of Coronavirus infection in India was not yet over even though the weekly positivity rate was showing an overall declining trend.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said 39 districts in the country reported over 10 per cent weekly Covid positivity rate in the week ending August 31 while in 38 districts it was between 5 and 10 per cent.
He asserted that 16 per cent of India's adult population have received both the doses of COVID-19 vaccine while 54 per cent have been administered at least the first dose.
"In Sikkim, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Himachal Pradesh all the adult population have got at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine," Bhushan said.
In view of the upcoming festive season amid the scare of the third wave of COVID-19 infections striking the country, ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said mass gatherings have to be discouraged and full vaccination should be a prerequisite if attending such a congregation is essential.
"People should celebrate festivals at home, follow Covid-appropriate behaviour and embrace vaccination," NITI Aayog member (Health) V K Paul said.
The government said that about 300 cases of the Delta Plus variant of SARS-CoV-2 have been detected in India so far.
India recorded its highest number of daily COVID-19 infections in over two months with 47,092 people contracting the disease as the country's total tally of cases rose to 3,28,57,937.
The last time the daily cases were higher than this was 63 days ago (July 1), when the country reported 48,786 cases.
The number of active cases has climbed to 3,89,583 and comprise 1.19 per cent of the total infections, according to Union Health ministry data updated on Thursday. It said active cases increased by 11,402 in a span of 24 hours.
The death toll has increased to 4,39,529 with 509 more fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.
More than half of India's adult population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 16 per cent have got both, the Union government said on Thursday as the cumulative number of doses administered in the country crossed 66 crore.
About ramping up of daily vaccinations, he said 18.38 crore doses were given in August during which 59.29 lakh doses were administered daily. The average daily vaccination in the last seven days of August has been 80.27 lakh.
"That's a huge achievement and would not have been possible without very effective and optimal participation of all healthcare workers, state governments and Union Territory administrations," Bhushan said.
Amid fear of new COVID-19 strains, RT-PCR test is compulsory for passengers arriving from seven more countries, including South Africa, Bangladesh and China, the Centre said on Thursday.
In a letter to all states and Union Territories (UTs), the government said considering reports of new mutations in SARS-CoV-2 and rising number of Variants of Concern (VOCs) and Variants of Interest (Vols) globally, seven countries have been added to the list of countries whose travellers will have to get another RT-PCR test done upon landing at Indian airports apart from the one they need to get before embarking on the flight.
These seven countries are South Africa, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.
In earlier guidelines issued in February, passengers from only the United Kingdom, Europe and the Middle East had to get the RT-PCR test done again upon landing at Indian airports.
The Centre also asked states/UTs to ensure strict compliance to these guidelines so that the import of Vols and VoCs to India from other countries may be prevented.
