 "Tsunami warning, night curfew and vaccine hunt: India's Covid fight in pics")
Delhi recorded 6,746 fresh Covid-19 cases on Sunday and a positivity rate of 12.29 per cent while 121 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 8,391, authorities said. The total number of cases has climbed to 529,863.
The total confirmed case count in India has now crossed 9.1 million. On Sunday, India reported 44,404 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking its tally to 9,140,312. The country's death toll has mounted to 133,773. At 1,780,208, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 873,046, Andhra Pradesh 862,000, Tamil Nadu 769,000 and Kerala 562,735.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday urged the people of the state not to lower their guard against Covid-19 and follow the safety protocols strictly in order to avoid imposition of another lockdown. He said that although he has been advised to impose a night curfew, he does not believe that anything can be achieved by imposing such restrictions.
The universities and degree colleges across Uttar Pradesh are reopening from Monday. The educational institutions will reopen with only 50 per cent attendance and students, on a roster basis, can attend the class in any enclosed area. A maximum of 200 students can attend the class at any given time.
Rising Covid-19 cases caused by uninhibited shopping spree during the recently concluded Diwali festival by citizens has forced Gujarat government to impose curfew from Friday 9 pm till Monday 6 am in Ahmedabad. However, according to industry representatives, festive hangover coupled with the curfew being imposed during the weekend, there has not been much impact on the operations of units.
Amid spiralling Covid-19 cases, the Rajasthan cabinet on Saturday decided to impose night curfew in 8 districts (Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Bikaner, Udaipur, Ajmer, Alwar and Bhilwara) and increased the fine amount on not wearing a face mask from Rs 200 to Rs 500, an official release said. Those venturing out to attend marriages, purchase essentials, train, bus and air travellers, and people related to essential services will be exempted, it said.
According to sources, the country’s drug regulator is likely to issue an emergency use authorisation (EUA) to at least one vaccine candidate by the end of January. This would be procured by the government to vaccinate those on the priority list, that is, frontline health workers and the vulnerable population.