Declining trend, but cases still high: MHA extends guidelines till June 30

The centre Thursday extended the existing Covid-19 containment guidelines till June 30. In its last order, it had spelt out measures to contain the spread of the virus, largely based on the formula of testing, tracking and treating.

Granting legal force to an April 25 advisory of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had on April 29 issued an order under the Disaster Management Act for its immediate implementation by states and Union Territories.

The April 25 advisory asked states and UTs to identify districts where either the positivity rate had been more than 10 per cent or more in the last one week; or, where bed occupancy was more than 60 per cent.

It said the districts fulfilling any of the above two criteria should be considered for taking intensive and local containment measures.

The National Directives for Covid-19 Management were also ordered to be strictly followed throughout the country.

In Thursday’s order, the MHA has extended the same guidelines.

“The strict implementation of containment and other measures has led to a declining trend in the number of new and active cases, across states & UTs, barring some areas in the southern and northeastern regions,” Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said in a letter to states on Thursday.

“I would Ike to highlight that in spite of the declining trend, the number of active cases presently is still very high. It is, therefore, important that containment measures continue to be implemented strictly. Any relaxation by states/UTs, may be considered at an appropriate time, in a graded manner, after assessing the local situation requirement and resources,” he added.