India Lockdown News Today: Should there be a complete LOCKDOWN of six to eight weeks? Check what ICMR head has to say

India Lockdown News Today: The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic had an adverse impact on the healthcare of the country. On Friday, the Union Health Ministry has reported that India has recorded 3,43,144 new COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours. Due to the surge in the number of COVID-19 cases, most of the states have issued strict guidelines and many states have even imposed lockdown in order to control the spread of the disease.

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Keeping in view such a situation, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said that districts reporting a high number of Covid-19 infections should remain locked down for another six to eight weeks to control the spread of the infection. According to a Reuters report, Dr. Balram Bhargava, head of ICMR said in an interview that lockdown restrictions should remain in place in all districts where the rate of infection is above 10 per cent of those tested.

It must be noted that at present, out of 718 Indian districts, three-fourth have reported a COVID-19 positivity rate of above 10 per cent. Major cities like Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore and others have also fallen under this category. Dr. Bhargava's comments have outlined how long lockdowns which have already imposed in large parts of the country by the respective state governments, need to continue in order to curb the spread of the COVID-19 infection in the country.

As of now, the central government has not taken any decision on complete lockdown all over the country like last year considering the economic impact. However, the decision has been left up to the respective state governments. To control the spike in the number of COVID-19 cases, a number of states have imposed full lockdown on economic activities and public movements to stop the spread of the virus, which are now being reviewed and extended on a weekly or fortnightly basis.

It must be remembered that the COVID-19 vaccination drive has already begun in the country, The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Thursday in a press release stated, "The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 17,91,77,029 per the 8 PM provisional report today."