States, UTs can impose local curbs to control rising coronavirus cases, say new guidelines from Centre

In view of the rising Covid-19 cases, the ministry of home affairs has come out with detailed guidelines in order to control the surge.

The Centre has asked states and UTs to put in place local restrictions based on their assessment without impacting intra- or inter-state movement.

The ministry has asked states and UTs to rapidly scale up vaccinations to cover all priority groups.


The Centre has also asked state/ UT Governments to take all necssary measures to promote COVID-19 appropriate behaviour in work places and in public, especially in crowded places.

Ramp up testing
The guidelines mandate the states and UTs to adopt the Test- Track-Treat protocol in all parts of the country.

States and UTs, where the proportion of RT-PCR tests is less, should rapidly increase it, to reach the prescribed level of 70 percent or more.

The new positive cases, detected as a result of intensive testing, need to be isolated/ quarantined at the earliestand provided timely treatment.

The coronavirus case count has seen a rapid surge in the last few days and the guidelines have been issued to consolidate the gains made so far.

Expanded vaccine coverage
The Centre has also expanded the vaccine coverage with all those above 45 years of age eligible to take the Covid shot.
In the fresh guidelines, the Centre has observed that vaccination across states is uneven.

"While the vaccination drive is proceeding smoothly, the pace is uneven across different States and UTs; and, the slow pace of vaccination in some States/ UTs is a matter of concern. Vaccination against COVID-19, in the present scenario, is critical to break the chain of transmission," the Centre observed.