Coronavirus March 31 Updates: The Government of West Bengal has withdrawn the Coronavirus-related restrictions that are currently in force in the state. However, in an order released on Thursday, the state government stated that the advisory in respect of health and hygiene protocols including wearing of mask at all times, hand hygiene and sanitisation of public places shall continue to be strictly observed until further orders.
Maharashtra government also lifted all COVID-19 restrictions from April 2, and went a step further in easing restrictions by making masks not mandatory.
Earlier on Wednesday, rhe World Health Organisation (WHO) released an updated Strategic Preparedness, Readiness & Response Plan for Covid-19. This was WHO’s third strategic plan in response to the virus. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the plan lays out three possible scenarios for how the pandemic will evolve this year. The most likely scenario is that the virus continues to evolve but the severity of disease it causes reduces over time as immunity increases due to vaccination and infection. Tedros said that periodic spikes in COVID19 cases and deaths may occur as immunity wanes, which may require periodic boosting for vulnerable populations.
He further added that in the best-case scenario, the world may see less severe variants emerge, and boosters or new formulations of vaccines won’t be necessary. “In the worst-case scenario, a more virulent and highly transmissible Covid virus variant might emerge. Against this new threat, people’s protection against severe disease and death, either from prior vaccination or infection, will wane rapidly,” Tedros said.
To address the worst case scenario, WHO informed that it is required to significantly alter the current COVID19 vaccines and make sure they get to the people who are most vulnerable to severe disease.
Let’s dive into some more updates on the current Covid situation in India and around the globe:
– A health department official confirmed that Mizoram on Thursday reported 99 new COVID-19 cases, 58 less than the previous day, with the tally rising to 2,24,360, reported PTI.
– DDMA decides to do away with fine for not wearing masks in public places.
– Kerala reported 429 new COVID-19 cases, 620 recoveries and 1 death on Thursday. ANI reported that six deaths were not added due to lack of documents and 41 deaths were added as per the new guidelines of the central government. With this, the total death toll has reached 67,913 in state, while Kerala has 3,171 active cases.
– India recorded 1,225 new Covid cases, 28 deaths and 1,594 recoveries in the last 24 hours; official data from the Ministry of Health confirmed today. The country’s active caseload stands at 14,307. The active cases comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate remained at 98.76 per cent.
-A total of 78.91 crore Covid tests have been conducted so far, with 6,07,987 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, as per data provided by the Ministry. India’s COVID-19 tally had surpassed the one crore-mark on December 19, 2020.The infection count in Maharashtra’s Thane has gone up with the addition of five Covid positive cases, an official informed PTI today. As the virus did not claim any life during the day, the death toll in the district remained unchanged at 11,880.
– A senior health department official informed today that Puducherry has emerged free of coronavirus as the number of active cases stood at zero, reported PTI
– Number of Covid cases in Shanghai have dropped for the first time in two weeks. Authorities appealed to residents to keep cooperating with tight curbs imposed to stop COVID-19 spreading, saying they recognised their frustrations as China’s most populous city entered the fourth day of a two-stage lockdown, as per Reuters report.
