Govt takes stock as India logs highest new cases
NEW DELHI: India reported 94,392 infections and 1,108 deaths due to Covid-19 on Saturday, according to data from states that show the country continues to report some of the grimmest numbers in the world, which has prompted officials and experts of late to make repeated appeals to people to not become complacent.
The country is now recording the highest numbers of new cases. The average number of daily infections is well over the 90,000-mark in the last seven days. This number was around 24,000 two months ago and 58,000 a month ago. India’s new case counts are more than double of the United States’s and Brazil’s – the other two countries with the largest outbreaks.
The latest appeals for caution come from Prime Minister Nar
endra Modi. “Jab tak dawai nahi, tab tak dhilai nahi. Do gaj ki doori, mask hai jaroori (No complacency till a medicine is found. Face mask and maintainting distance of two yards is necessary),” PM Modi said at an event to mark the handover of 175,000 houses built in rural pockets of Madhya Pradesh under the Pradhan Mantri Awas
Yojana (PMAY). According to a statement from the government, the PM’s principal secretary PK Mishra chaired a highlevel meeting to “comprehensively review the Covid-19 preparedness and response”, where the case management, vaccine development and distribution, and long-term strategies were discussed.
NEW DELHI: The government has decided not to hold an allparty meeting ahead of the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament due to the Covid-19 pandemic, people familiar with the matter.
Generally, an all-party meet is conferred before a session of Parliament to set targets. According to a person aware of the details, the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of both Houses of Parliament is scheduled to meet on Sunday to take decisions on allocation of time for businesses that will be taken up during the monsoon session, which is scheduled to take place from September 14 To October 1.
“Since there will be representatives from nearly all parties except those that have fewer than three MPs it will nearly be an all- party meeting,” said the person quoted above.
The government is expected to face questions on the border standoff with China and the handling of the pandemic during the meeting. “The government will have to make a statement on the Chinese aggression and India’s response. The government has kept the opposition informed...,” said a BJP functionary.