Please watch your October, November, December: Govt on COVID-19

Issuing a warning over the spread of COVID-19 the health ministry has said that common people need to be watchful during the wedding and festive season of October, November and December
Please watch your October, November, December: Govt on COVID-19
  • People need to be extremely careful in wedding and festive season during October, November and December: Health Ministry
  • Some states have a 21 percent positivity rate and 1,000 cases in a small state like Mizoram are worrying, said official

New Delhi: "Please watch your October, November, December," NITI Aayog member (Health) VK Paul warned people on Thursday about the threat of COVID-19 resurgence during the coming festival and wedding season, and advised them to avoid crowded places and celebrate festivals virtually. Asserting repeatedly that the second wave of the pandemic is not over, the government said that though the situation is plateauing, the country is still reporting as high as 20,000-odd new infections every day.

"We cannot take the current stable situation for granted. We have to be mindful of the fact that the pandemic is going on and can take an untoward turn if we are not careful," Paul said.

Warning people about the threat of COVID-19 resurgence during the coming festivals such as Dussehra, Diwali, Durga Puja, Milan-un-Id and Christmas and wedding season, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said at a press conference, "Please watch your October, November, December." 

While overall COVID-19 positivity across the country gives comfort, Agarwal pointed out that there are still a large number of districts reporting high case positivity.

Thirty-four districts across nine states and union territories are reporting a weekly positivity rate of more than 10 percent, while 28 districts across 12 states and UTs are reporting a weekly positivity rate between 5 and 10 percent, he informed.

The surge in cases globally aggravates the ongoing concern related to COVID-19 management, Agarwal said, adding around 4.54 lakh cases are being reported on an average daily globally.

Stating there has been global evidence of surge followed by unhindered public gatherings at various events in the UK, Russia and the Netherlands, Agarwal advised people to avoid crowded places and unnecessary travel and to stay home, celebrate festivals virtually and explore online modes of shopping.

Paul said, "In three months, October, November and December, we will take the vaccination forward. This is our aim. We saw that when in other countries…complacency was observed it led to paying a high price."

In the US, still 1,500-2,000 daily cases are being reported, he said.

"If we compare it with our population then it is 300 per million and if it was 333 then it would have been as many as the second peak seen in India. This shows that we cannot take any risk in this delta variant times. If we look at the UK then there are more than 40,000 cases per day and their population is just 7 crore…the infection is spreading at more intensity there than our second wave," Paul said.

Lastly, some states have a 21 percent positivity rate and 1,000 cases in a small state like Mizoram are worrying, he highlighted. "In Kerala too the positivity (rate) is 13.72 per cent, which is very high and more than 60 per cent cases are coming from there so we are together trying to control the pandemic and there is a need to bring more intensity into it," he said.

The government said that Kerala recorded 50 percent of the total coronavirus cases in the country last week.

Kerala has over over lakh active cases currently and the figure in four other states is ranging between 10,000 and 50,000.

The government said 71 percent of India's adult population have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 27 percent have got both doses.

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