Government redoubles efforts to tackle Covid second wave

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With coronavirus cases rising for the ninth consecutive day and touching a high of 39,726 on Thursday, the government has stepped up vigil in affected states. It is also actively engaging with states and union territories that are showing a rise in coronavirus infections.<br />
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The Central government is ramping up vaccination as well as testing with a view to implement its "Test Track & Treat" strategy.</p>
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Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan appealed to people to take vaccine shots and reiterated that the vaccines are safe. Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Friday, the Health Minister said: "No one should have any doubts about the Covid-19 vaccines. I urge all to take the vaccine shots."<strong><br />
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Among its various directions to states, the government has stressed upon the following points:</strong></p>
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·  Focus on surveillance and implement a containment strategy in areas that show clusters of cases.</p>
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·  Focus on clinical management in areas that report higher deaths.</p>
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·  Follow up on tests to track different variants of the virus.</p>
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·  Limit the gathering in public places and promote appropriate behaviour like physical/social distancing and wearing of masks.</p>
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·  Accelerate vaccination for priority groups as well as general population.</p>
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Maharashtra reported 25,833 fresh cases of Covid-19 till Thursday night, the highest since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. The other states which are recording high daily numbers include Kerala, Punjab, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Haryana.</p>
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Earlier this week, the Central government had sounded the alarm about the infection spreading to Tier-II, Tier-III and moving closer to rural India. The Prime Minister too had admitted the emergence of the second wave parts of the country and told the chief ministers that the second wave needs to be stopped immediately before it spreads to larger areas.<br />
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Dr VK Paul, member, NITI Aayog, told a press conference: "A significant situation is emerging as the plummeting pandemic is going up. The Prime Minister said that pandemic seems to be more so in Tier II, Tier III cities and closer to rural areas. The earlier phase was in big metro cities."<br />
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As part of the routine inoculation drive, the Health Ministry said nearly four crore Covid-19 doses had been administered till Thursday. It also said that the number of Covid tests conducted across the country has touched 23,03,13,163 with cumulative National Positivity Rate confined to 4.98 per cent.<br />
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India had launched its vaccination drive on January 16 after granting formal approvals for 'Covishield' and 'Covaxin'. The second phase of the vaccination programme was launched on March 01 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior leaders getting their jabs accompanied with wide visual-publicity.</p>