As India added 152,879 new Covid-19 cases to its total, setting another grim one-day record, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday declared the beginning of the “second big war” against the virus.
At the ‘Tika Utsav’ or Covid-19 mass vaccination festival, the PM asked to make targets at the personal, social and administrative levels and emphasised on testing, awareness and eligible individuals getting vaccinated.
In a message on the occasion, the Prime Minister stressed on four points regarding the nationwide vaccination drive. “Firstly, ‘Each One, Vaccinate’. Those who can’t go for vaccination, such as illiterate and old people, should be assisted. Secondly, ‘Each One, Treat One’. This involves helping people in getting who do not have resources or knowledge to get treated. Thirdly, ‘Each One, Save One’, which means that “I should wear a mask and save myself and others”. Finally, the community should lead in creating ‘micro-containment zones’ even in case of a single positive case. They are a key component of the fight against Covid-19 in a densely populated country like India,” the Prime Minister said.
He added that success would be determined by awareness, not moving out of homes unnecessarily, vaccinating all eligible persons, and following Covid-appropriate behaviour. He expressed hope people would participate and reminded the country about “dawai bhi, kadai bhi”.
The PM also insisted that the country has to move towards zero vaccine wastage and optimum utilisation of vaccination capacity.
Among concerns about shortages of vaccines and essential medicines, the Centre on Sunday prohibited exports of Remdesivir injections and Remdesivir Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), which is considered a key anti-viral drug in the fight against Covid-19.
Additionally, all domestic manufacturers of the drug have been advised to display details of their stockists/distributors on their website. A total of seven Indian companies are producing Injection Remdesivir under a voluntary licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences in the USA.
The Department of Pharmaceuticals has been in contact with the domestic manufacturers to ramp up the production of Remdesivir, stated the press release issued by the Union Government.
Drug inspectors and other officers have also been directed to verify stocks, check malpractices and take effective actions to curb hoarding and black marketing. State Health Secretaries will review this with the Drug Inspectors of the respective states and UTs.
The Union has also advised the states that the extant “National Clinical Management Protocol for Covid-19”, which is based on evidence, has been developed after many interactions by the Committee of Experts and is the guiding document for treatment of Covid-19 patients. In the protocol, Remdesivir is listed as an investigational therapy, and shared decision-making is essential, besides taking note of contraindications mentioned in the detailed guidelines, it said further.
States and UTs have been advised to communicate the information to all hospitals, both public and private, and to monitor compliance.
These steps were taken as India’s Covid tally reached over 1.33 crore cases. 839 deaths in the last 24 hours pushed the total death count to 1.69 lakh.
Active cases have seen a steady increase for the 32nd day in row. The active cases increased to 11,08,087, comprising 8.29 percent of the total infections, while the recovery rate further dropped to 90.44 percent.
India’s worst-affected state Maharashtra reported 63,294 new cases and 349 deaths due to the virus. The state’s active case tally has mounted to 5,65,587.
Delhi recorded 10,774 fresh cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, which is the highest single-day surge in the national capital till date. The previous highest-ever single-day spike in Delhi of 8,593 cases had been reported on November 11, 2020. 48 new fatalities were also recorded, pushing the death toll to 11,283. The fresh cases came after more than 1.14 lakh tests were conducted the previous day, which is a record number for Delhi. The positivity rate stood at 9.43 percent.
The Covid-19 death toll in Haryana reached 3,268 with 16 more fatalities, while 3,440 fresh cases pushed the infection tally to 3,16,881. While three fatalities were reported from Jind, two deaths each were reported from Panipat, Yamunanagar, Bhiwani, Karnal, Ambala, and one death each from Gurgaon, Hisar and Sirsa districts.
Uttar Pradesh reported 15,353 new Covid-19 cases, the highest single-day spike since the outbreak of the virus, while 67 fresh deaths took the toll in the state to 9,152. The total number of cases in the state stands at 6,92,015. The count of active is 71,241. In this month, so far, the highest single-day death toll has been 67.
Madhya Pradesh reported 5,939 fresh cases, the highest in a single day, taking the tally to 3,38,145, while 24 fatalities pushed the toll to 4,184. Madhya Pradesh is now left with 35,316 active cases. A total of 3,306 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the count of recoveries to 2,98,645.
Gujarat reported 5,469 new Covid-19 cases and 54 deaths in the last 24 hours. The case tally went to 3,47,495, including 27,568 active cases.
Jammu and Kashmir reported 915 fresh infections while five more people succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours. Among the fresh cases, 288 cases were reported from the Jammu division and 627 from Kashmir Valley, taking the total tally to 1,38,390.
Kerala logged 6,986 new Covid-19 cases, which included 27 health workers, and 16 related deaths, taking the total affected to 11.67 lakh and the death toll to 4,783. As many as 2,358 people were also cured of the disease, taking the total number of recoveries to 11,17,700. The test positivity rate stood at 10.75 percent.
Meanwhile, Karnataka reported 10,250 new coronavirus cases, 2,638 discharges and 40 deaths in the last 24 hours.