COVID-19 restrictions to remain till June 30 confirms government

The Union home ministry on Thursday extended the nationwide Covid-19 restrictions, till June 30. The ministry said the restrictions are necessary to keep a check on the spread of the infection. "The strict implementation of containment and other measures has led to a declining trend in the number of new and active cases, across States & UTs, barring some areas in the Southern and North-Eastern regions," the order by Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla said."I would like to highlight that in spite of the declining trend, the number of active cases presently is still very high. It is, therefore, important that containment measures may continue to be implemented strictly. Any relaxation by States/UTs, may be considered at an appropriate time, in a graded manner, after assessing the local situation, requirements and resources," the order further said.

In the April 29 order, the MHA directed the states and Union territories to go for intensive and local containment measures in districts with a high number of Covid-19 cases to check the spread of the viral disease. The MHA also asked the states to consider the containment measures, as conveyed in an advisory issued by the Union health ministry for immediate implementation based on an assessment of the situation. India, in the last 24 hours, recorded 2,11,298 new Covid-19 cases. Tamil Nadu was the top contributor with 33,764 people testing positive for the virus, while Kerala saw 28,798 cases. Active cases decline to 24.19 lakh, a reduction of over 75,000 on Wednesday. However, the country also recorded 3,847 deaths reported on Wednesday. While Maharashtra witnessed 1,013 deaths, Karnataka saw 530 and Tamil Nadu 475.