India’s fresh Covid cases shoot up to 8-month high, states issue mask guidelines

• India recorded a single-day rise of 10,158 coronavirus cases on Thursday.
  
• The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.42% while the weekly positivity rate was 4.02%.
  
• The demand for booster doses has also gone up in the last few weeks, and the country is administering a few hundred shots per day.
  
• Kerala, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and more states have made masks mandatory in public places and UP has also re-started screening international travellers.

India recorded a single-day rise of 10,158 coronavirus cases, the highest in nearly eight months, according to the Union Health Ministry data. The number of active cases has increased to 44,998, the data updated on Thursday showed.

India had reported 7,830 coronavirus infections on Wednesday. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.42% while the weekly positivity rate was 4.02%. The active cases now constitute 0.1% of the total infections.

The nationwide Covid-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.7%, according to the health ministry website. The case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19%.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease rose to 4,42,10,127. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country.

The demand for booster doses has also gone up in the last few weeks. The country has been administering a few hundred booster vaccine shots per day in the last few weeks and there are 146 active vaccination sites across the country.

Adar Poonawalla, chief executive officer of Serum Institute of India, which is one of world’s largest vaccine manufacturers, said that the company was re-starting the production of Covidshield vaccine. He said the company already has six million booster doses of Covovax vaccine available and adults must take the booster shot.

"Just as a precaution, at risk we have done it so that people have Covishield as a choice if they want it," Poonawalla told PTI on restarting manufacturing of the vaccine.

He further said Serum Institute of India will make 6-7 million doses of Covishield available in 90 days and it could take up to nine months to further build up the stock based on demand.

The company had stopped manufacturing Covishield in December 2021.

Mask mandates come back

To tackle the growing number of Covid infections, state governments have taken various measures – including advising the elderly, comorbid and pregnant women to mask up. In the same month last year, the government relaxed its mask norms, and made them optional instead of mandatory.

Kerala, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and more states have made masks mandatory in public places and UP has also re-started screening international travellers. Mumbai municipality, on the other hand, has made masks mandatory for all — staff and visitors at civic hospitals. It has also advised senior citizens to mask up.

Kerala, Maharashtra, Haryana and Gujarat have been reporting the highest number of cases in the last few weeks. As many as 68 people have passed away across the country in the last one week due to the disease.

(With PTI inputs)