India on Thursday reported 86,821 fresh cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), taking the case tally to 6,312,584 , according to Union health ministry. The country also reported 1,181 new fatalities due to the virus in last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 98,678.
India has 9,40,705 active cases in the country, whereas a total of 52,73,201 people have been cured of the disease so far. While the country’s infection rate is at 15.11%, India’s recovery rate currently stands at 83.33%.
A total of 7,56,19,781 samples have been tested for Covid-19 till September 30. Of these, 14,23,052 samples were tested on Wednesday, according to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Though the country continues to witness a rise in Covid-19 cases, the Centre on Wednesday issued fresh guidelines for reopening of activities for people. The Centre has given a green flag for partial reopening of movie theatres, schools, colleges and swimming pools among other things.
As per the new guidelines, the schools and colleges can reopen from October 15 in a graded manner but only after the states and union territories have taken “consultation with the respective school/institution management, based on their assessment of the situation”.
This relaxation comes with a set of its own conditions, one of those being: “Students may attend schools and institutions only with the written consent of parents.”
On the other hand, Cinema halls have been permitted to reopen with up to 50 per cent of their seating capacity for which SOP (Standard operating procedure) will be issued by Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MHA).
On Wednesday, Maharashtra extended its lockdown till October 31, while also issuing relaxations on a few services such as restaurants, Mumbai local services bars and hotel.
The Centre in its guidelines has also made it clear that all states and UT governments will not impose any lockdown outside the containment zones until a consultation with the government is made.
“State/ UT Governments shall not impose any local lockdown (State/ District/ sub-division/City/ village level), outside the containment zones, without prior consultation with the Central Government. No restriction on inter-state & intra-state movement,” the Ministry of Home Affairs had said in a statement.
