Aviation regulator DGCA on Wednesday, August 17, asked all Indian carriers to strictly enforce COVID-19 protocol, including mask mandate for passengers, in aircraft amid a rise in infections across the country. In a statement, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it will be conducting "random checks" on aircraft across the country to see if the COVID-19 protocol is being enforced or not. Airlines have to ensure that passengers are wearing face masks properly throughout the journey and there is proper sensitisation of passengers through various platforms, it mentioned. "In case a passenger does not comply with the directions, strict action will be taken by airlines against the passenger," it added.
In view of the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, the airlines were advised again on August 16 to strictly comply with COVID-19 protocol inside the aircraft, it mentioned. India on Wednesday recorded 9,062 fresh COVID-19 infections that took its tally to 4,42,86,256, while the number of active cases came down to 1,05,058, according to Union Health Ministry data. The official death toll climbed to 5,27,134 with 36 new fatalities, including six reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The 30 new fatalities recorded include six from Punjab; five from Karnataka; three each from Delhi and Rajasthan; two each from Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand; and one each from Chandigarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Ladakh, Odisha, Sikkim and West Bengal.
The active cases comprise 0.24% of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 98.57%, the ministry said. A decline of 6,194 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.49% and the weekly positivity rate at 4.38%, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,36,54,064, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19%, it said.
So far, 208.57 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country under the nationwide vaccination drive, it added. 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 1-crore mark on December 19.