As Covid cases dip, many states open schools, lift curbs
Daily Delhi-Kolkata flights restored
The declining trend of Covid-19 cases in India continued Monday with 2,09,918 new cases reported in the past 24 hours -- a reduction of over 10 per cent in comparison to the previous day’s figures. The daily positivity rate, however, went up to 15.7 per cent from 14.5 per cent.
A total of 959 deaths were also logged in the last 24 hours, of which 374 were added as part of the data reconciliation exercise in Kerala. With this, the number of fatalities due to the infectious disease in India has gone up to 4,950,50.
Several states and Union territories have started lifting restrictions in a phased manner. There are others who have allowed schools and other educational institutions to reopen physical classes, but with some strict conditions.
In West Bengal, chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced that schools for Classes 8 to 12 will reopen on February 3.
She said that flights from New Delhi and Mumbai will be allowed to operate daily, instead of thrice a week at present. The ban on flights from the UK to Kolkata was also lifted but passengers need to undergo RT-PCR tests.
The West Bengal government also allowed 75 per cent of the workforce to attend office, instead of the earlier 50 per cent. Ms Banerjee said the night curfew on movement of people was reduced by an hour, and will now be in force from 11 pm to 5 am.
The Madhya Pradesh government decided to reopen schools, including residential ones, with 50 per cent capacity for students of Classes 1 to 12 from Tuesday. This was decided as chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held discussions with medical experts on the Covid-19 situation and the feasibility of reopening schools.
The Odisha government relaxed night curfew by an hour and allowed Saraswati Puja in schools as the Covid-19 cases in the state saw a steady decline in the last few days. An official notification said the night curfew will be in force in urban areas from 10 pm to 5 am, instead of from 9 pm. In Tripura, all schools, colleges and universities opened on Monday after a gap of one month. After registering a dip in Covid-19 cases, all schools and colleges in Puducherry will also resume physical classes from Friday.
With over two lakh fresh cases, the nation’s overall Covid-19 caseload has climbed to 4,10,92,522. The active caseload, which was 18,84,937 on January 30, has fallen by 53,669, nearly three per cent, and stands at 18,31,268, which is 4.43 per cent of all infections. The country’s recovery rate stands at 94.37 per cent, with 2,62,628 recoveries recorded in the last 24 hours. The health ministry data showed 13,31,198 Covid-19 tests were conducted across the country in the same time period.
Under the Covid-19 vaccine drive across the country, as many as 166.03 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far. India began the vaccination process on January 16, 2021, with an ambitious target to inoculate its entire eligible population by December 2021, with at least the first dose.