Centre advises states, UTs to continue following 5-fold strategy to avoid possibility of Covid surge during festival season

New Delhi [India], September 28 (ANI): Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Tuesday wrote to the chief secretaries of all the states and union territories to strictly continue their five-fold strategy to avoid the possibility of a surge in COVID-19 cases during the upcoming festive season.
"The daily COVID-19 cases are declining steadily in the state, but the cases can rise during the upcoming festive season. So, the states and union territories should strictly continue to follow the five-fold strategy, that is, Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination and Adherence to COVID-19 protocols, to avoid the possibility of a spike in cases in the festive season," the official statement issued by the Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said.
He said that the states and union territories should closely monitor the positivity rate and hospital or ICU bed occupancy of every district.
According to the statement, all the states and union territories should continue their vaccination programme with the focus to accelerate vaccination of eligible age groups and prioritisation of the second dose to eligible beneficiaries.
Bhalla further urged the chief secretaries to take necessary measures advised by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) in a letter issued on September 21.
With 18,795 new COVID-19 infections reported in the last 24 hours, India on Tuesday recorded less than 20,000 cases after 201 days, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Out of 18,795 new COVID-19 cases across India, 11,699 cases were reported in Kerala yesterday.
India's cumulative tally has reached 3,36,97,581, and the number of active cases has declined to 2,92,206, which is the lowest in 192 days. The active cases account for less than 1 per cent of total cases, currently at 0.87 per cent, the lowest since March 2020
According to the health ministry, 32,9,58,002 people have recovered from the disease so far, out of which 26,030 recovered in the last 24 hours. The death toll climbed to 4,47,373 with 179 new fatalities. (ANI)