Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], July 18 (ANI): In the wake of two confirmed cases of Monkeypox in neighbouring Kerala, Telangana Health Minister Harish Rao on Monday asked the people to be vigilant of the virus.

New Delhi [India], June 24 (ANI): After India reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the last 100 days, a top expert said that the surge in COVID-19 infections isn't a concern but it is necessary to closely monitor the severity of the virus.

New Delhi [India], June 20 (ANI): As India reports a surge in COVID-19 cases, Dr SP Byotra, Vice Chairman, Sir Gangaram Hospital said that there are some patients who have "long COVID" and only time will tell how long their symptoms like respiratory problems, tiredness, exhaustion, heart problems will continue.

New Delhi Apr 20 PTI In view of spike in coronavirus cases in the city the Delhi government on Wednesday made wearing of mask mandatory in public places and imposed a fine of Rs 500 on violators Officials said the Delhi Disaster Management Authority DDMA in its meeting also decided not to shut schools but chose to come up with a separate Standard Operating Procedure in consultation with experts The government is expected to issue an official order regarding the mandatory use of masks soon Sources said authorities have been asked to keep a close watch on social gatherings and ramp up testing in the national capital They said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is closely monitoring the situation and instructions have been issued to officials for taking steps to check the spread of the virus and preparations for treatment of Covid patients In the DDMA meeting emphasis was laid on vaccination of eligible groups as it will help keep in check the impact of the pandemic officials saidSeveral participants asserted that there was no need to panic since the number of hospitalisations was low despite a rise in new Covid cases they said It was highlighted that the trends of hospitalisation needed to be closely monitored for the next fortnight as well as conducting genome sequencing of all positive samples put through RTPCR testIt was also decided to raise the number of tests being done with the focus on people with symptoms they said According to official figures there are 9735 beds for Covid patients in Delhi hospitals and just 80 082 per cent of them are occupied On Tuesday Delhi recorded a nearly 26 per cent jump in fresh COVID-19 cases The health department said 632 fresh cases were reported on Tuesday and the positivity rate was 442 per cent The city had on Monday recorded 501 cases and zero death while the positivity rate stood at 772 per cent The number of daily COVID-19 cases in Delhi had touched the record high of 28867 on January 13 this year during the third wave of the pandemic The city had recorded a positivity rate of 306 per cent on January 14 the highest during the third wave of the pandemic which was largely driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant of coronavirus PTI VIT BUN RHL

New Delhi [India], April 1 (ANI): Delhi reported 131 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

New Delhi Mar 31 PTI The Supreme Court Thursday asked the Centre to consider the representation of some aspirants who could not appear in the UPSC civil services main examination after being infected with COVID-19 and are now seeking an additional attempt in light of the recommendation made in a recent parliamentary committee reportIn the March 24 report the committee has said that keeping in view the hardships faced by the student community during the first and second waves of COVID-19 it recommends the government to change its mind and sympathetically consider the demand of civil services examination CSE aspirants and grant an extra attempt with corresponding age relaxation to all candidatesThe Centre had last week told the apex court that additional attempt in the Union Public Service Commission UPSC civil services examination is not possibleA bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar was hearing a plea filed by three aspirants who had cleared the UPSC 2021 prelims exam but could not appear in all papers of the main exam after testing positive for COVID-19 and are now seeking an extra attempt to appear in the examsAdvocate Prashant Bhushan who was appearing for an intervenor in the matter apprised the apex court about the parliamentary committee reportHas the government considered this committee report before taking the decision the bench also comprising Justices A S Oka and C T Ravikumar askedAdditional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati appearing for the Centre said that she do not have instructions on thisYou may consider it in light of this recommendation the bench observed adding it is open for the government to change its mindThe bench asked the petitioners and the intervenor to make representation to the authority which would consider it in light of the committee reportIn light of the recommendation of the parliamentary committee we dispose of this petition and application with a direction to the appropriate authority to re-examine the representations made by the petitioners and similarly placed persons afresh and take appropriate decision the bench said The bench made clear that it has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the matterThe UPSC had recently told the top court there is no provision for holding re-examination in case a candidate fails to appear in the test on the scheduled date for any reasons including ailment or accident incapacitating him to take the examIn its affidavit filed in the court the Centre had said that the CSE is conducted by UPSC annually in accordance with the CSE Rules notified by the Department of Personnel and Training DoPT every year for a particular CSEIt had said the matter of compensatoryextra attempt has been adjudicated by the apex court in the past against the plea of hardships faced by the aspirants due to the COVID-19 pandemic but it was not grantedThe affidavit had referred to the judgement and order passed by the top court last year in February and July 2021 on separate pleasIt had said after the July last year order a number of representations were received in the DoPT putting forth the same demand of compensatoryextra attemptThe matter has been considered and it has not been found feasible to change the existing provisions regarding number of attempts and age-limit in respect of the CSE it had saidIt had said the existing age range for admission to CSE is 21 to 32 years with relaxation for certain categories of candidates and the permissible number of attempts is also six with relaxations for certain categories of candidatesIn its separate affidavit filed in the apex court the UPSC had said that any decision regarding age relaxation and compensatoryextra attempt in the civil services examination is a policy matter which falls under the domain of the DoPTWhile two of the three petitioners had to leave the main exam held from January 7 to 16 in-between after appearing in some initial papers the third aspirant could not appear in any of the papers due to COVIDThe petitioners in their plea filed through advocate Shashank Singh had said that they tested positive for COVID-19 in the RTPCR test reports dated January 13 14 and January 6 respectivelyThe plea had said the petitioners could not take the UPSC mains examination after testing positive for COVID-19 and owing to the restrictions imposed under the strict quarantine guidelines of the governmentAlso there was absence of any kind of policy of UPSC which could provide arrangements for such petitioners who were COVID positive during the span of mains examination or before it it had saidThe petitioners are approaching this court under Article 32 and seeking a direction to the Respondent UPSC to extend them an additional extra attempt to appear in the examination or in alternate make some arrangement to appear in the rest of papers which the petitioners could not give before the publication of result of civil service mains examination 2021 the plea had said PTI ABA SA

New Delhi [India], March 23 (ANI): The national capital logged 132 fresh COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours with the case positivity rate of 0.40 per cent, said the health bulletin by the Delhi government on Wednesday.

New Delhi [India], March 20 (ANI): As many as 97 fresh COVID-19 infections and one death were reported in the national capital in the last 24 hours, the Delhi Health Department informed on Sunday.

New Delhi [India] March 19 (ANI): The national capital on Saturday reported 61 new Covid cases and one death with a positivity rate of 0.68 per cent in the last 24 hours, the city's health department said.

New Delhi [India], March 12 (ANI): The national capital logged 161 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours with a positivity rate of 0.44 per cent, said the health bulletin of the Delhi health department on Saturday.