Cinema halls across the country will be permitted to operate at 100% capacity from February 1 with adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar has announced.
Digital booking of tickets and staggered show timings will be encouraged, the minister said, releasing a set of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here . A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.
Here are the latest updates:
Total active cases in India drop to 1.68 lakh
India is at the fifth position globally in terms of the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered within the country, while the total active cases have dropped to 1.68 lakh comprising just 1.57 % of the total cases, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday.
As of January 29, the country ranked fifth worldwide in term of vaccine doses administered, the ministry said.
Elaborating on the active cases, the ministry said that 31 states and UTs have less than 5000 active cases. Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported 4 active cases followed by Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli with 6 active cases.
It said 79.69 % of the total COVID-19 active cases are constituted in 5 states and UTs. "Two states alone, Kerala and Maharashtra cumulatively account for a bulk (69.41 %) of India's total active cases," the ministry underlined.
- PTI
For fifth day in a row, no new COVID-19 case in Andamans
Picturesque Andaman and Nicobar Islands have not reported any coronavirus case for the last five days notwithstanding a steady inflow of tourists into the archipelago, health department officials said Sunday.
The Union Territory has not reported any new COVID-19 case since Tuesday, they said.
The virus caseload in the archipelago remained at 4,994, with only four active cases, a senior health official said.
No casualty due to the virus has been reported for over a month time as the death toll stays at 62.
One more person was cured of the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries in the islands to 4,928, the official said.
Staggered film show timings, no hopping out of seat for popcorn during intermission: MHA
After the Ministry of Home Affairs cleared the 100% occupancy rate in cinema halls from February 1, in a fresh Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has asked the cinema halls to have staggered show timings to ensure there is no overcrowding in the common areas.
For fifth day in a row, no new COVID-19 case in Andamans
Picturesque Andaman and Nicobar Islands have not reported any coronavirus case for the last five days notwithstanding a steady inflow of tourists into the archipelago, health department officials said Sunday.
The Union Territory has not reported any new COVID-19 case since Tuesday, they said.
The virus caseload in the archipelago remained at 4,994, with only four active cases, a senior health official said. - PTI
India records 13,052 new cases, 127 fatalities
With 13,052 new coronavirus cases, India's COVID-19 tally has climbed to 1,07,46,183, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 1,04,23,125, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.
The national recovery rate has climbed to 96.99%.
The death toll increased to 1,54,274 with 127 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 a.m. showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,04,23,125. The COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.44%.
The total COVID-19 active cases remained below 2 lakh for the 12th consecutive day. There are 1,68,784 active cases of coronavirus infections in the country which comprises 1.57% of the total caseload, the data stated. - PTI
Tamil Nadu suggests vaccination for elderly
Tamil Nadu has suggested to the Centre to allow vaccination of the elderly, along with frontline workers and healthcare providers, according to Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan.
“We have created a session to cover 100 persons. If 40 or 60 healthcare providers come and frontline workers will be covered from February 1, there is still a gap. We can give priority to the elderly who are willing to get vaccinated. Permission can be granted for a State like Tamil Nadu. Experts are of the view that instead of vaccinating the elderly in the third phase, they can be inoculated simultaneously now. We have made this suggestion to the Centre, and they will look into it,” Dr. Radhakrishnan told reporters on Saturday.
260 new COVID-19 cases in Thane, 2 more deaths
The COVID-19 tally in Thane district of Maharashtra has gone up to 2,53,627 with the addition of 260 new cases of the viral infection, an official said on Sunday.
Apart from these new cases reported on Saturday, two more persons also died due to COVID-19, taking the toll in the district to 6,151, he said.
Currently, the COVID-19 fatality rate in the district is 2.43%, the official said.
So far, 2,44,072 patients have recuperated from the infection, taking the COVID-19 recovery rate in the district to 96.23%. - PTI
