COVID-19 Pandemic: Practice responsible rather than revenge travel, says Centre ahead of festival season

Ahead of major festivals beginning with Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri and Dusshera, the Centre has urged people to go in for low-key celebrations to prevent the spread of Covid-19, stating that the country is still in the grip of the second wave of the pandemic.

Addressing a ministry of health and family welfare briefing here, Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Balram Bhargava said that people also should also practice responsible travel instead of aggressive revenge travel.

"Low key celebrations of festivals should be encouraged to avoid the spread. Responsible travel rather than revenge travel should be practised," said Bhargava.

Ahead of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, the State governments of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and the government of Union Territory Delhi have restricted the public celebrations of the Ganesh Chaturthi.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had in today's MOHFW briefing said that 60.98 per cent of the total active COVID-19 cases in India were from Kerala and of the 43,263 COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, over 32,000 cases are from Kerala.

"The overall declining trend is a little less than 50 per cent which was there in the first wave. We're are still witnessing 2nd surge; it's not over, said Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan at a press briefing.

Earlier today, a total of 43,263 new COVID-19 cases and 338 deaths were reported across the country in the last 24 hours, informed the Union Health Ministry. Of these, Kerala recorded 30,196 cases and 181 deaths.

(ANI)