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The Russia-made Sputnik V vaccine may be cleared for emergency use in India within 10 days, a highly placed official confirmed to The Hindu on condition of anonymity.
The possible approval for a third vaccine candidate comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Sunday to review the situation and the on-going vaccination programme with the number of new cases crossing 1 lakh — surpassing the figures recorded in September 2020.
You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here. A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.
Here are the latest updates:
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand CM recovers from COVID-19
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Sunday disclosed through a social media post that he has recovered from coronavirus.
Mr Rawat had tested positive for COVID-19 on March 22 and had been in self-isolation since then.
“My COVID test report has come out negative twice in the past 48 hours,” Mr Rawat said in the social media post.
Karnataka
Karnataka allows gyms to function with 50% occupancy
The Karnataka Government on Sunday provided relief to gymnasiums that were ordered to shut down following the spurt in COVID-19 cases, by issuing a fresh set of guidelines allowing gymnasiums to function with reduced occupancy.
The order issued by Chief Secretary P. Ravikumar under the Disaster Management Act 2005 said that the modifications to the earlier order of April 2, which ordered closure of gymnasiums, have been modified following a number of representations received by the chief minister to relax the restrictions with certain conditions.
The order allowed the gymnasiums to remain open with the conditions that occupancy at any time cannot exceed 50%. Further, strict COVID -19 appropriate behaviour like ensuring wearing of masks, physical distancing and provision of hand sanitisers should be enforced. The equipment shall be sanitised after every use and if there is any violation, the gymnasium will be closed till the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
While a series of restrictions had been imposed on Friday, the government – heeding to the appeal from the cinema industry- on Saturday allowed the theatres to defer imposition of 50% occupancy in theatres till April 7.
Maharashtra
Maharashtra announces night curfew, weekend lockdown
While ruling out a stringent lockdown, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government on Sunday tightened restrictions further by announcing a night curfew and weekend lockdown across the State in the wake of the relentless surge in COVID-19 cases.
The fresh norms, which come into effect today, include a curfew from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. (Monday to Friday), a ban on gatherings of five or more persons throughout the day, and, in a determined bid to prevent gatherings, a closure of malls, restaurants and bars.
Theatres and cinema halls are to remain shut as well, while playgrounds and gardens will also be closed. Home delivery services will be permitted while essential services will continue unhindered. The new rules are to last till April 30, said a government notification.
Karnataka
Private hospitals to reserve 20% of beds for COVID-19 patients
In the backdrop of cases and deaths rising, the civic body has decided that 20% of beds in all private medical establishments will be reserved for patients referred by the government or the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
This will later be scaled up to 40%, should the trend continue. The State government issued an order to this effect on Sunday.
The BBMP has already held two rounds of meetings with the private medical establishments to discuss bed allocation. When the cases had peaked last year, 50% of the beds in private medical establishments were reserved for patients referred by the civic body. This was scaled back when the case load dropped.
However with a fierce second wave, officials are taking no chances. BBMP’s Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said the scaling up of the number of beds reserved for COVID-19 patients will be done in a phased manner. “This is part of the anticipatory effort,” he said. The civic body has already opened two COVID-19 Care Centres at HAL and Haj Bhavan, while another one at Koramangala Indoor Stadium will be operational soon.
Rajasthan
Rajasthan govt. announces COVID curbs, night curfew
In a bid to tackle the spike in coronavirus cases, the Rajasthan government imposed a night curfew and ordered the closure of multiplexes, gymnasiums besides suspending Classes 1 to 9 at schools from April 5 to 19, a statement said.
According to the guidelines issued by Principal Secretary (Home) Abhay Kumar, the government also restricted the number of people at social gatherings to a maximum of 100.
College classes, except for final-year students, will remain suspended during the period but students can take their practical exams with prior permission.
Nursing and medical colleges will remain functional as earlier.
It will be mandatory for the travellers from outside the state to submit a negative coronavirus test report, not old than 72 hours before arrival in Rajasthan.
Maharashtra
Maharashtra sees record single-day spike
In its highest-ever single-day surge, Maharashtra touched a new peak on Sunday, recording 57,074 fresh COVID-19 cases as its active case tally soared to 4,30,503.
In a high fatality spike, the State reported 222 deaths (123 of which were reported in the last 48 hours while the rest were from an earlier period) as the death toll climbed to 55,878.
Both Mumbai city and Pune district touched new single-day highs in cases.
In contrast to the spike, just 27,508 patients were discharged. The State’s recovery rate dipped to 83.8%. A record-high 1.97 lakh samples were tested in the last 24 hours as well.
While the total case tally has now reached 30,10,597, the cumulative recoveries stand at 25,22,823.
Haryana
Haryana’s new guidelines limit number of people at functions
The Haryana government on Sunday issued fresh guidelines putting a ceiling on the number of people permitted at functions in open spaces and indoors, and at funerals in the wake of a surge in coronavirus cases in the State.
While at the most 200 people would be allowed at events indoor, the crowd capacity outdoors has been put at 500. At funerals, a maximum of 50 people would be allowed to attend, the new guidelines stated.
Earlier, the limit on gatherings was implemented in Gurgaon and Faridabad.
Under the new standard operating procedure (SOPs), organisers of social, academic, sports, entertainment, cultural, religious and political gatherings must take permission from district magistrates, the state government stated.
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