At a time when many states and union territories are planning to lift curbs imposed on public movement with a slight dip in Covid 19 cases in the past one week and the Omicron variant not being seen as deadly, the Centre has asked states to exercise caution while lifting restrictions as the number of infections still remain high.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday passed an order under the Disaster Management Act extending its earlier order of December 27 for covid containment till February 28.

“Due to the current COVID wave, led by the new variant, Omicron, there has been a steady increase in the number of Covid cases in the country and the active cases have increased to over 22 lakhs. Though a majority of active cases are recovering fast and a low percentage of cases are in hospitals, it is still a matter of concern that 407 districts in 34 States & UTs are reporting a positivity rate of more than 10%. Therefore, looking at the current trends of COVID virus, there is a need to exercise caution and vigilance,” Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said in a letter to chief secretaries of all states.

The MHA has told states to observe all precautions and “not let the guard down”. It has made the direction based on assessment of the situation and local and district administrations should continue to take prompt and appropriate containment measures.

“Imposition and lifting of local curbs/restrictions should be dynamic and should be based on the case positivity and hospitalisation status at the local level,” the letter has said.

Source: The Indian Express