Confirmed coronavirus cases in India rose past the 92-lakh mark as the country shifts to localised restrictions to contain the pandemic.
India reported 44,376 new cases in 24 hours, taking the total tally near 92.2 lakh in the world’s second-worst infected country, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8 a.m. on Nov. 24. That includes over 86.4 lakh recoveries and more than 1.4 lakh deaths.
Active cases climbed back above 4.4 lakh as India reported a higher number of fresh cases than recoveries for the third time in a week, raising concerns of a renewed surge.
Meanwhile, the Centre has issued new “Surveillance, Containment and Caution” guidelines for the month of December that allows states and union territories to impose local restrictions like night curfew. However, they will have to consult the Centre before imposing any lockdown outside the containment zones, the Ministry of Home Affairs said on Wednesday.
According to the guidelines, all activities have been permitted outside containment zones except for some which have been allowed with certain restrictions.
These activities are international air travel of passengers, as permitted by MHA, cinema halls and theatres, with up to 50% capacity, swimming pools, only for the training of sportspersons and exhibition halls, only for business to business purposes.
Social, religious, sports, entertainment, educational, cultural and religious gatherings in closed spaces are allowed with up to a maximum of 50% of the hall capacity with a ceiling of 200 persons. In open spaces, people will be allowed as per the size of the ground.
The guidelines were enclosed with a list of 19 operating procedures that have been issued from time to time to regulate the activities that have been permitted.
Global Update
South Korea’s daily tally jumped to nearly 600, the most since March, raising worries that the latest spread could threatened a fine-tuned strategy to combat the pandemic.
In the U.S., California and Texas broke daily records for infections, while an outbreak is accelerating in the Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel extended a partial lockdown for at least three weeks as the continent’s biggest economy struggles to regain control of the virus.
The global tally topped 60.2 million with more than 1.4 million dead.