Centre Writes to 8 States, Asks Them to Ramp Up COVID Preparedness & Vaccination

The Centre has written to Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Jharkhand.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has written to eight states over the surge in COVID-19 cases, advising them to take steps to curb the spread.

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Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has written to eight states over the surge in COVID-19 cases, advising them to take steps to curb the spread.

These eight states included Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Jharkhand.

Flagging the spike in COVID cases across 14 cities, the Centre has urged states to take immediate measures, including increasing their COVID-19 testing, strengthening hospital-level preparedness, and boosting their vaccination pace and coverage, reported news agency ANI.

India on Thursday reported 13,154 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's active caseload to 82,402, data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) indicated.

Meanwhile, India's Omicron cases have increased to 961, as per the MoHFW. Of these, the number of people who have recovered is 320.

Delhi and Maharashtra have reported the highest number of cases of the highly-transmissible variant so far – 263 and 252 respectively. The highly transmissible variant has reached 19 states so far.

While Delhi has imposed a series of restrictions under the Yellow Alert, several states have imposed night curfew among other curbs to keep a check on New Year festivities.

Moreover, Omicron accounts for 46 percent of the 115 COVID-19 samples analysed in the national capital, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Thursday.

Delhi saw an 86 percent rise in daily COVID cases, with 923 new COVID cases reported on Wednesday. On the same day, Mumbai reported 2,510, an 82 percent rise from Tuesday's 1,377 cases.

Not Following COVID Appropriate Behaviour Has Added to the Spike

Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was quoted as saying, “As noticed 90 percent of the latest cases are from high rise buildings. Most of the patients are contracting the infection while attending family functions and ceremonies" Indian Express reported.

Similarly, in Delhi, as per official figures cited by news agency PTI, the state government gathered over Rs 86 lakh in COVID fines on Wednesday, as the national capital reported over 4,300 violations of COVID appropriate behaviour.