Tamil Nadu imposes new restrictions for mass grthering

Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Harshvardhan has rejected the claims of shortage of vaccines in the country. He said, Central government is continously monitoring and enhancing the supplies of Covid-19 vaccines to the States and Union Territories.In a series of tweets, the Minister said, over nine crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered to the beneficiaries in the country so far.He said, around four crore thirty lakh doses of vaccines are in stock and ready to be delivered to the States.Dr. Harshvardhan said that hue and cry made by certain States about partisanship by the Union Government is just a farce and an attempt to hide their own incompetence. He said, Maharashtra and Rajasthan are two of the top three States in allocation of Covid-19 vaccine doses. He said, these two States are non-BJP governed States. He informed that over 1.6 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses have been provided to Maharashtra whereas Rajasthan have been provided over 1.4 crore doses.

-In Madhya Pradesh, there will be a lockdown in all cities from 6 pm to 6 am untill Monday. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has said that the number of positive patients is increasing in the country and the state. It is necessary to maintain patience and tolerance. Other necessary arrangements for treatment of patients and prevention of Corona infection are also being made. The state government is also arranging free treatment in private hospitals. Arrangements are being made in Peoples Hospital and J.K. Hospital in Bhopal. Adequate arrangements are being made to ensure that there is no shortage of medicines, oxygen. The supply of oxygen from Bhilai Steel Plant has started. Meanwhile, the state on Thursday reported  4324 fresh covid cases and 27 deaths while 2296 recovered from infection.

-Nation will pay a befitting tribute to 9th Sikh Guru, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, on his 400th Parkash Purab. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the meeting of the High Level Committee to commemorate 400th Birth Anniversary also known as Prakash Purab of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji through video conferencing on Thursday.Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said, the occasion of the 400th Prakash Purab of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji is a spiritual privilege as well as a national duty. Elaborating on the discussions in the meeting, the Prime Minister said, to connect more and more people to commemorate the 400th Prakash Purab of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, various activities will be organized throughout the year. Home Minister Amit Shah said, collective efforts should be made to ensure that the message of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji reaches out to all. The meeting was attended by several prominent leaders including Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, and Chief Ministers of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan among others.

-In Tamil Nadu, several new restrictions for mass gatherings of people have been imposed from Saturday. The action comes in the wake of soaring numbers of new Covid-19 cases. The restrictions include a cap of fifty percent of occupancy in hotels, shopping malls, cinema halls, entertainment parks and big format stores. The new Covid-19 containment measures are being imposed as the single day fresh cases in the state have gone up to 4276 on Thursday, including 1520 in Chennai alone. Different establishments have been encouraged to organize vaccination drives for their staff. The retail stores within the wholesale markets have been asked to close their shutters. Bus travel is not permitted for standees.In indoor stadiums, a maximum of 200 people only are allowed at a time. The ceiling of guests in marriage functions is  100 people. Exhibitions are allowed only for the benefit of business-to-business processes. Worships in religious places are permitted upto 8 pm, though permission for festivals and other religious events are barred. Those traveling from other states have been asked to follow the e-registration procedure.

-The walk-in OPD registration at AIIMS has been temporarily suspended. Only those having prior appointments will be attended by the hospital. The move comes as the city witnesses over five thousand new cases being reported in New Delhi for continuously.An order from the AIIMS medical superintendent said the walk-in registrations will be closed from today. AIIMS authorities said, in view of increased need to minimise possibility of community spread of ongoing pandemic this decision has been taken. AIR correspondent reports, departments have also been asked to fix the daily limit of new and follow-up patients coming through the online registration.