“While there has been a continued decline in active and new cases of COVID-19, vigilance, containment, and caution need to be maintained, taking into account the increase in cases globally and the emergence of a new variant of the virus. in the United States. Kingdom (United Kingdom) “, declared the Home Office.
In the expanded guidelines, the ministry said Containment Zones will continue to be carefully demarcated.
Prescribed containment measures strictly followed within these zones, he said. Appropriate COVID behavior is promoted and prescribed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are strictly enforced and scrupulously followed regarding the various permitted activities. “
Meanwhile, the government is also focusing on starting the massive Covid-19 vaccination campaign early next year. Related to that, a two-day trial began on Monday to verify the readiness of health authorities for a future national COVID-19 vaccination program in four states.
The exercise will include the necessary data entry into Co-WIN, an online platform for tracking vaccine delivery, receiving and assigning tests, deployment of team members, a mock session sites with the Beneficiaries of the test, as well as a report meeting and a night meeting, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.
It will also include cold storage testing and transportation arrangements for the COVID-19 vaccine, crowd management at session sites with adequate physical distance, the ministry said.
Currently, three COVID-19 vaccine candidates from Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute of India and Pfizer are under active consideration by India’s drug regulator and there is hope that an advance license will be possible for all or any of them, according to the Union Ministry of Health.
In addition, the MHA stated: “The focused approach on surveillance, containment and strict compliance with the guidelines / SOPs issued by the MHA and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), as provided in the Guidelines issued on 11/25 .2020; must be strictly enforced by the States and UT “.
Here is a summary of the guidelines issued by the Center previously:
Surveillance and containment
The States / UTs must guarantee the careful demarcation of the containment zones by the district authorities, at the micro level, taking into account the guidelines prescribed by the MoHFW in this regard.
Within the demarcated Containment Zones, the containment measures prescribed by the MoHFW will be scrupulously followed, including:
-Only essential activities will be allowed in the Containment Zones.
-There will be a strict perimeter control to ensure that there is no movement of people in or out of these areas, except for medical emergencies and to maintain the supply of essential goods and services.
-There will be intensive house-to-house surveillance by surveillance teams trained for this purpose.
-Tests will be performed according to the prescribed protocol.
-The contact list will be carried out with respect to all persons found positive, together with their tracking, identification, quarantine and contact tracking for 14 days (80 percent of the contacts will be tracked in 72 hours).
-Rapid isolation of COVID-19 patients in treatment facilities / home will be ensured (subject to adherence to home isolation guidelines).
-The prescribed clinical interventions will be administered.
-The surveillance of ILI / SARI cases will be carried out in health establishments or mobile extension units or through fever clinics in buffer zones.
-Awareness will be raised in communities about appropriate COVID-19 behavior.
-The municipal, police and local district authorities will be responsible for ensuring that the prescribed containment measures are strictly followed and the state / UT governments will guarantee the accountability of the interested agents in this regard.
Appropriate behavior for COVID
The ministry also ordered the states and the UT government to take all necessary measures to promote appropriate COVID-19 behavior and ensure the strict enforcement of the use of face masks, hand hygiene and social distancing.
To enforce the basic requirement to wear face masks, States and UTs may consider administrative actions, including imposing appropriate fines, on people who do not wear face masks in public and work spaces.
For the enforcement of social distancing in crowded places, especially in markets, weekly bazaars and public transportation, MoHFW will issue an SOP, the statement read.
The National Directives for the Management of COVID-19 will continue to be followed throughout the country, in order to enforce proper behavior of COVID-19.
Strict compliance with the prescribed SOPs
All activities have been allowed outside the Containment Zones, except for the following, which have been allowed with certain restrictions:
-International passenger air travel, as permitted by MHA.
– Movie theaters and theaters, with up to 50 percent capacity.
-Pools, only for sportsmen training.
-Exhibition rooms, only for business-to-business (B2B) purposes.
-Social / religious / sports / entertainment / educational / cultural / religious gatherings, with up to a maximum of 50 percent of the room capacity, with a ceiling of 200 people in closed spaces; and keep the size of the land / space in sight, in open spaces.
“However, based on their assessment of the situation, state / UT governments may lower the maximum limit to 100 people or less, indoors,” MHA further said,
Local restrictions
States and UTs, based on their assessment of the situation, may impose local restrictions, with a view to containing the spread of COVID-19, such as a night curfew.
However, state governments will not impose any local confinement (State / District / subdivision / city level), outside the containment zones, without prior consultation with the Central Government, the ministry clarified in its order.
States and UT must also enforce social distancing at offices. In cities, where the weekly Case Positivity Rate is above 10%, interested states will consider the implementation of staggered office hours and other appropriate measures, with a view to reducing the number of employees who attend the office by same time, thus ensuring social distancing.
No restrictions on interstate and intrastate movement
No restrictions will be placed on the interstate and intrastate movement of people and goods, including those destined for cross-border trade under treaties with neighboring countries. No separate electronic permission / approval / permission will be required for such moves.
Protection of vulnerable people
Vulnerable people, i.e. people over 65 years old, people with comorbidities, pregnant women and children under 10 years old are advised to stay at home except to meet essential requirements and for health reasons .
Use of Aarogya Setu
The use of the Aarogya Setu mobile application will continue to be encouraged.
India has the second highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world after the United States, and has recorded 147,901 deaths so far. However, the country has reported significantly low daily cases due to extensive testing for Covid-19 in all states.
On Monday, the Union Health Ministry reported a daily increase of just over 20,000 infections, bringing the country’s total so far to 10.2 million cases.
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