Students undergo a thermal scan and disinfect their hands when they arrive at a school that was reopened with certain COVID-19 safety guidelines, in Thane, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021 (Photo by PTI).
Coronavirus India Live Updates: The Government reported this Wednesday that vaccination coverage in the country has exceeded 9.06 million doses, placing India in third position after the US (55.2 million doses) and the United Kingdom (16.12 million doses) that
The US and UK have completed more than 60 days of vaccination, while India has completed 31 days since the inoculation campaign began on January 16.
The Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister today chaired a high-level meeting to review in detail the progress of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign across the country and steps to accelerate the pace of vaccination.
Plans were discussed to involve private sector healthcare facilities significantly in the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination campaign, the government said, adding that this will allow the registration of the population in the 50+ category for vaccination.
The Union Health Ministry said that vaccinations for frontline workers performed until 6pm today are 26,64,972, constituting 28.9 percent of eligible frontline workers.
He added that nine states / UTs have reported coverage of more than 75% of the first dose of HCW. These include Bihar (84.7%), Tripura (82.3%), Odisha (81.5%), Lakshwadeep (81%), Gujarat (80.2%), Chhattisgarh (78.8%), Madhya Pradesh (76.7%), Uttarakhand (76.6%) and Himachal Pradesh (75.1%).
Meanwhile, with the coronavirus numbers in Maharashtra showing a peak in the past two weeks, the state has reintroduced some restrictions on the gathering and movement of people. The state government has warned that it could even restore the blockade if deemed necessary.
Every day for the last week, for the first time since mid-January, Maharashtra has reported more than 3,000 new cases of coronavirus infections. New cases in the second week of February were at least 14 percent more than in the first.
In the week ending this Sunday (February 14), 20,207 new cases were detected statewide, compared to 17,672 the week before (February 1-7). In the previous week (from January 25 to 31), the state had reported 17,293 cases.
India registered 11,610 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total case count to 1,09,37,320, according to data from the Union Ministry of Health. With 10 more dead in the last 24 hours, the death toll has reached 1,55,913.
So far, 1,06,44,858 people have recovered from the disease. The national recovery rate stands at 97.33%. There are currently 1,36,549 active cases in the country, which represents 1.25% of all cases.
A sanitation worker receives the first dose of the Covaxin vaccine, at the Hindu Rao Hospital, in New Delhi, on Tuesday, February 16, 2021. (PTI Photo)
On Tuesday, Maharashtra recorded 3,663 new Covid-19 cases with 461 new cases in Mumbai. At least 39 deaths due to Covid-19 have risen to 51,591 deaths. In Mumbai there have been 11,425 deaths so far. While there is no lock on the table yet and no discussion has taken place about its imposition, officials present at the meeting said, the CM cautioned that a lock may be enforced if the general public bypasses standard procedures for wearing masks in public gatherings.
In a more than one hour meeting of Prime Minister Uddhav Thackeray with all district collectors, municipal commissioners, Covid state task force, health minister, police and senior health officials on Tuesday, districts were instructed to do that all Covid regulations were strict, including limited meeting during marriages, fines for mask violations, geo-mapping in rural areas to identify regions with high positivity rate, and sealing of buildings where a cluster of cases are found.
This includes a temporary suspension of permits for rallies, processions, protests; Guests at wedding ceremonies will be limited to 50.
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