The meeting comes in the backdrop of the dramatic surge in the number of daily new cases across the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Sunday meet top officials to review the Covid-19 situation in the country, government sources informed. The meeting comes in the backdrop of the dramatic surge in the number of daily new cases across the country.
On Sunday morning, the Health Ministry informed that nearly 1.6 lakh new cases had been reported in the last 24 hours. This compared to the tally of 27,553 just a week ago. Out of the new cases, a total of 3,623 positive cases are linked to the Omicron variant. These new Omicron cases are from 27 states and Union Territories of India.
The country's active caseload currently stands at 5,90,611 while the recovery rate is at 96.98 per cent at the moment. According to the Union Health Ministry, the testing capacity continues to be expanded across the nation. Data suggests that a total of 15,63,566 tests had been conducted in the last 24 hours. The cumulative figure for tests conducted since the beginning of the pandemic now stands at over 69 crores (69,00,34,525).
Several states have resorted to reimposing restrictions in the wake of a surging number of cases. Maharashtra, on Saturday evening, announced fresh restrictions. The Uddhav Thackeray government imposed a night curfew from 11 pm to 5 am. It also restricted the movement of people within the period except for essential purposes and in groups of five or more. Both Mumbai and the national capital New Delhi had on Saturday reported over 20,000 cases. While Delhi recorded 20,181 new infections, Mumbai added 20,318 more cases to its total tally.
The WHO has called for strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols and stringent implementation of public health and social measures. Expressing concerns over the exponential rise in the number of cases, WHO officials appealed to people to wear masks, maintain hand hygiene and cough etiquette and ensure ventilation and physical distancing.