COVID-19: Daily cases fall below 20,000; check corona guidelines to follow during festive season

COVID-19 Coronavirus Cases in India: The number of daily cases fall below 20,000 in India once again. As per the data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the country recorded 18,346 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours.

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India also achieved a milestone in vaccination as 91.54 crore vaccine doses have been administered under the nation-wide vaccination drive. At present, the active cases stand at 0.75 per cent of the total cases, which is less than 1 per cent and lowest since March 2020. India's active caseload stands at 2,52,90 which is the lowest in 201 days.

As the festive season is approaching, the people must abide by the COVID-19 SOPs to prevent the surge in the number of COVID-19 cases. Last week, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has written to the Chief Secretaries of all the states and union territories on COVID-19 safe behaviour during the upcoming festivals. In his letter, Bhalla wrote, "There should be focus on the five-fold strategy, i.e., Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination and adherence to COVID Appropriate Behaviour to safely navigate through the festive season to avoid the possibility of surge in COVID-19 cases."

Furthermore, the Union Home Ministry has also issued a notification to the states and the union territories instructing them to implement 'Prompt and Effective Measures' specified in a September 21 advisory issued in view of festivals.

According to an ANI report, Dr Sekhar C Mande, Director General, CSIR said, "We have been able to get a large population vaccinated with the first dose and even with the second dose. Our vaccines do prevent the disease to a large extent. If tested positive after being jabbed, the severity of COVID-19 is also reduced. Even if the third wave comes, then the intensity will be low and much less compared to the second wave."

The ANI also reported that Mahindra Agarwal, Professor at IIT Kanpur had said that the emergence of another wave depends on the emergence of a more infectious strain.

At present, the weekly positivity rate in the country is 1.66 per cent which is lower than 3 per cent for the last 102 days.

The MoHFW also informed that currently more than 6.73 crore balance and unutilised COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the States/UTs to be administered.