1. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held a webcast on Sunday telling people to observe precautions or be ready for another lockdown starting March 1.
2. The state has re-imposed strict restrictions in five of its districts — Amravati, Akola, Yavatmal, Buldana and Washim – with a “partial lockdown” in two of them.
3. Meanwhile, Pune announced new Covid-19 restrictions on Sunday including a limited night curfew with effect from February 22, closing of schools and colleges among other things.
4. Days after testing positive for Covid-19, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani’s latest test results came as negative.
5. Delhi reported 145 new COVID-19 cases, 97 discharges, and two deaths on Sunday, as per Delhi Health Department
6. Kerala recorded 4,070 new Covid-19 cases and 15 fatalities on Sunday. A total of 4,345 people recovered from the infection over the last 24 hours.
7. Herd immunity is “very difficult” to achieve and one should not think of it in “practical terms” in India, especially in the times of “variant strains” of COVID-19 and “waning immunity”, claimed AIIMS director Randeep Guleria on Sunday at Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) in a session on his book.
8. The Union Health Ministry has written to all states and UTs highlighting the need to significantly enhance the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations, noting that a large number of healthcare and frontline workers still remain to be covered.
9. West Bengal reported 182 fresh cases on Sunday, taking the total tally to 5,73,762. With three more COVID-19 fatalities, the toll reached 10,249, the health department said in a bulletin.
10. Manipur reported four new COVID-19 cases and 8 recoveries on Sunday.