Despite the number of Covid-19 cases on a steady decline across the country currently, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday extended the pandemic restrictions across the country till 30 November to prevent any further spread of the infection.
The decision was taken after some states reported a relatively high number of Covid cases, challenging the public health of the nation. Considering the prevailing situation and the upcoming festivals, which might lead to an increase in cases, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, after a discussion with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare officials, decided to extend Covid restrictions across the country.
“In exercise of the powers, conferred under Section 10 (2) (1) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the undersigned hereby directs that the order of the Ministry of Home Affairs of even number, dated 28th September 2021, to ensure compliance with Prompt and Effective Containment measures for Covid-19, as conveyed vide Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), dated 21st September 2021 will remain in force upto November 30, 2021,” the Home Ministry order, issued on Thursday, read.
Meanwhile, India logged 16,156 new coronavirus infections, taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 34,231,809, while the active cases declined to 160,989, the lowest in 243 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.
India would procure an estimate of 30 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses in the month of November, government sources said on Thursday. The sources further added that of these, six crore vaccines would be Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, 22 crore of Serum Institute of India’s Covishield, and two crore of Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D. “India will have 30 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines in November, including six crore doses of Covaxin, 22 crore doses of Covishield and 2 crore doses of Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D,” official sources said.
With the aim to achieve full vaccination by the end of November, the Centre will soon start a mega Covid-19 vaccination campaign “Har Ghar Dastak” in poor-performing districts on 2 November on the occasion of Dhanwantari Diwas, official sources said.