‘No entry without mask’: Nainital High Court issues notification amid fear of Covid surge

Covid-19 alert: The Nainital High Court, in its notification, directed all officers, staff, lawyers and parties to wear masks and abide by Covid safety norms to prevent the deadly virus from spreading further.

DEHRADUN: Amid growing fears of a surge in Covid-19 in the country, the Nainital High Court on Monday issued a notification saying that there will be no entry inside the courtroom without masks. The Nainital High Court, in its notification, directed all officers, staff, lawyers and parties to wear masks and abide by Covid safety norms to prevent the deadly virus from spreading further.

"In view of the danger of spreading of Covid-19, it will be possible to enter the courtroom only by wearing a mask in the Nainital High Court," said the notification. The notification was the Registrar of the High Court on the orders of Nainital High Court Chief Justice Vipin Shanghvi. As per the notification, the Registrar has also instructed for continuous sanitization of all courtrooms and not to allow crowding inside the courts. 

Uttarakhand | Nainital High Court issues notification saying that all officers, staff, lawyers and parties will be able to enter the court only after wearing masks. — ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) December 26, 2022

Active Covid cases in India rise to 3,428

India on Monday logged 196 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases marginally increased to 3,428, according to the Union Health Ministry. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,77,302). The death toll stands at 5,30,695 with two fatalities reconciled by Kerala, the Health Ministry data updated at 8 am stated.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.56 per cent, while the weekly positivity was pegged at 0.16 per cent, the ministry said. It said 35,173 tests for the detection of Covid have been conducted in the last 24 hours. The active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate increased to 98.80 per cent, the ministry said.

An increase of four cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,43,179 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.

According to the Ministry's website, 220.05 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

Amid concerns over Covid, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday decided to hold mock drills at all health facilities across the country on December 27 in the wake of the COVID alarm due to a surge in infection in many countries. This is to ensure readiness in the availability of oxygen support, and ICU beds among other preparedness measures in case of a surge of COVID cases in India.

According to the Ministry, the objective of the exercise is to ensure the operational readiness of these health facilities for the management of COVID. Detailing the focus on the parameters during the mock drills, it said that the main focus will be on the bed capacities including isolation, oxygen-supported and ICU beds at the health facilities. 

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year. It had crossed the four-crore mark on January 25 this year.