COVID-19: India's tally crosses 63 lakh with 86,821 more infections; 98,678 fatalities reported

New Delhi: Even as the Centre has issued Unlock 5 directives to further open up the economy, the country reported 86,821 fresh cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), taking the case tally to 6,312,584. The country has also reported 1,181 new fatalities due to the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll in the country to 98,678 on Thursday.

While the country's infection rate is at 15.11% (far above the WHO-prescribed limits), India's recovery rate currently stands at 83.33%. India has 9,40,705 active cases in the country, whereas a total of 52,73,201 people have been cured of the disease so far.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 7,56,19,781 samples have been tested for Covid-19 till September 30. Of these, 14,23,052 samples were tested on Wednesday -- a significant rise.

Despite the continuing surge in the number of Covid-19 cases, the Centre on Wednesday issued fresh guidelines for reopening of activities for people. The Centre has given a green flag for a partial reopening of movie theatres, schools, colleges and swimming pools, among other things.

As per the Unlock 5 guidelines, the schools and colleges can reopen from October 15 in a graded manner but only after the states and union territories have taken consultation with the schools or institutions.

The MHA in its latest guidelines also stated that "students may attend schools and institutions only with the written consent of parents."

Cinema halls have been permitted to reopen with up to 50 per cent of their seating capacity for which SOP (Standard operating procedure) will be issued by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MHA).

The MHA has also made it abundantly clear that the Governments shall not impose any local lockdown (in the state/district/sub-division/city/village level), outside the containment zones, without prior consultation with the Centre.

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