Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla wrote to all States on Friday “to take necessary measures to regulate crowds” during upcoming festivals by enforcing COVID-19 appropriate behaviour such as wearing of mask and maintaining social distancing, as the country was passing through a critical juncture with the number of cases and deaths on the rise.
There was no direction for political rallies that are seeing huge crowds in poll-bound Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu.
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Here are the latest updates:
Country sees highest single-day rise in year
India saw 62,258 new coronavirus infections in a day, the highest single day rise so far this year, taking the nationwide COVID-19 tally to 1,19,08,910, according to Union health ministry data updated on Saturday.
Registering a steady increase for the 17th day in row, the active cases have increased to 4,52,647 comprising 3.80 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 94.85 per cent, the data stated.
The 62,258 new cases were reported in a span of 24 hours, the highest since October 16, 2020, while the death toll increased to 1,61,240 with 291 daily new fatalities, the highest in around three months, the data updated at 8 am showed.
As many as 63,371 new infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours on October 16.
- PTI