Covid 2.0: Curfews, partial lockdowns threaten India’s economic recovery
Covid 2.0: Curfews, partial lockdowns threaten India’s economic recovery
Night curfews and weekend lockdowns imposed by various state governments pose a threat to India s economic recovery. Malls, showrooms and branded shops across the country are largely empty due to government restrictions.
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UPDATED: April 17, 2021 16:26 IST
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced a weekend curfew in the national capital. The weekend curfew will be enforced from 10 pm on Friday till 6 am Monday. (PTI)
The Indian economy, which was recovering at a snail’s pace, has been hit by the rising number of Covid-19 cases across states and subsequent curfews/lockdowns imposed by various state governments.
Cabinet Health Secretary Rajiv Gauba Friday spoke with chief secretaries, DG Police, and health secretaries of all states and Union territories to review the recent spike in daily Covid-19 cases in 11 states/UTs over the past two weeks.
He added that 11 states/UTs were categorised as “states of grave concern” on account of their rising numbers of daily Covid-19 cases and deaths. According to the health ministry, the 11 states are Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Haryana.
They have contributed 90 per cent of Covid cases in the country, 90.5 per cent of deaths in 14 days till March 31, and have crossed or close to crossing their early reported peaks last year, it said.
Coronavirus Updates: India reported 23,285 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, taking caseload over 1.13 crore. Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu continue to report a surge in daily COVID-19 cases, accounting for 85.6 per cent of the new cases, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday. India's total Covid-19 active caseload has reached 1,97,237 and now comprises 1.74 per cent of India's total infections. On the other hand, Maharashtra's Nagpur city will go under lockdown from March 15 to 21 in view of spike in Covid-19 cases here. The district has been reporting a spike in daily cases since the last month.Follow Indiatoday.in for the latest updates on the coronavirus situation and vaccine in India and across the world.
Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine is the first requiring just a single injection. (Reuters photo)
The World Health Organization on Friday approved the emergency listing of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine, giving its seal of approval to expedite use especially in countries with weaker regulatory agencies.
It is the third Covid-19 vaccine after the two-shot regimens of Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca to receive backing from the WHO, and the first requiring just a single injection.
The listing covers use in all countries, for roll-out of the vaccine facility COVAX and follows the European Medicines Agency (EMA) authorisation announcement on Thursday.