The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday issued first set of guidelines regarding the Monkeypox virus that continues to spread across United States, Europe and African nations.  According to the guidelines, contacts should be monitored at least daily for the onset of signs/symptoms for a period of 21 days (as per case definition) from the last contact with a patient or their contaminated materials during the infectious period.

In terms of daily case count, India on Tuesday saw a marginal dip as the 2, 338 Covid-19 infections were registered in the last 24 hours. In terms of the daily corona fatalities, the country witnessed 19 deaths in the span of one day.

While overall national tally remains well below 3,000-mark, there has been a surge in certain areas. Both Maharashtra and Kerala, which have been the Covid epicentres in both the first and second wave, the cases are creeping up steadily.

In terms of weekly analysis, more infections are being reported from these two states. Situation in Mumbai has reached a critical juncture with several private hospitals reporting Covid patients.

In fact, Aslam Shaikh, Mumbai city guardian minister, has also issued a warning and said that if the graph of coronavirus cases keeps the upward trend, the state government may have to reintroduce Covid curbs. For five consecutive days, Mumbai has been reporting over 300 Covid-19 cases.

Meanwhile, the results are out for the three sample of the suspected monkeypox infection. The lab at National Institute of Virology says that all three samples have tested negative and so far, India remains monkeypox-free. The WHO says that as many as 23 nations around the globe have reported this virus.