JAIPUR: After a brief lull,
Covid cases saw a sudden spike across the state on Thursday recording 128 fresh infections, the highest in 21 days. It was also for the first time in the last six days that the numbers breached the 100 mark.
Apprehending further rise in cases, the state government made it mandatory for
passengers coming from
Maharashtra and Kerala to carry a RT-PCR Covid negative report.
Chief minister
Ashok Gehlot said the pandemic had not vanished completely as there had been significant rise in its numbers in Kerala, Maharashtra and a few other states. Askign people to stay alert, he appealed to people to wear masks and follow social distancing norms.
He said passengers from Kerala and Maharashtra should get Covid negative report within 72 hours of beginning their travel. Directions have been issued to conduct screening of them at railway stations and airports on arrival.
Health secretary Siddharth Mahajan said the active cases are just 0.38% and the recovery rate is 98.7%. The doubling time of Covid cases has increased to 2,521 days, but it is 586 days nationally.
While Maharashtra continued to report the highest daily new cases followed by Kerala, the state government has taken it seriously and decided to check the health status of passengers traveling from the two states. “We will ensure that passengers traveling by air, railways and roadways from the two states, should have a Covid-19 negative report,” said Dr
Narrottam Sharma, chief medical health officer, Jaipur (I).
On February 4, the state had reported 139 cases and since then it was for the first time the state reported 128 cases.
The health department acknowledged that for the last three days, cases had been increasing in the state. “Section 144 of CrPC has already been extended and directions have been issued to districts to remain alert,” said a senior health department official.