COVID-19 surveillance guidelines to remain in force till Jan 31 as vaccine dry run begins

On a day when India recorded 20,021 fresh cases of COVID-19, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued an order extending implementation of surveillance guidelines till January 31, 2021. While MHA has observed that re has been a continuous decline in new COVID cases, it has also emphasized need to remain cautious in wake of new Coronavirus variant that has emerged in UK. guidelines issued on vember 25 this year shall continue to remain in effect till end of January, MHA order on Monday said. 

Home Ministry has also stressed on demarcation of containment zones and safety measures to be strictly followed in se zones. It has directed State and Union Government's to ensure strict implementation of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by Health Ministry. 

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"Containment Zones continue to be demarcated carefully; prescribed containment measures strictly followed within se zones; COVID-appropriate behaviour promoted and strictly enforced, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) prescribed in respect of various permitted activities followed scrupulously," MHA directed.

India has recorded 20,021 new cases, 21,131 recoveries, and 279 deaths in last 24 hours taking country's total caselo to 1,02,07,871. Meanwhile, 97,82,669 people have recovered so far.

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COVID vaccine dry run begins 

With India gearing up to carry out largest immunization drive in history, a mock run for ministration of COVID-19 vaccine commenced on Monday morning across 4 states - Andhra Presh, Assam, Punjab, and Gujarat. dry run, slated to happen on December 28 and 29, aims at identifying any possible verse events and tests manment and preparedness of ministering COVID-19 vaccine without any hiccups. As three vaccine candidates remain in final st of clinical trials and have alrey sought emergency approval, India aims to vaccinate nearly 30 crore people in first phase of vaccination and plan has alrey been rolled out. 

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So far, Centre has held over 2,360 training sessions, in which over 7,000 officials have been trained to minister COVID-19 vaccine. Centre has also rolled out a digitalized platform system named COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (Co-WIN) to track enlisted beneficiaries for vaccination on a real-time basis. Beneficiaries for dry run have also been shortlisted through Co-WIN. Only pre-registered beneficiaries will be vaccinated in accordance with prioritisation of groups. states have been directed to allocate shots from one manufacturer to a district to avoid mixing of different COVID-19 vaccines in field.