The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday extended the Covid-19 containment guidelines for another month till September 30 in view of the sudden spike in daily cases, and a looming third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

In the new order, the central government has asked all states and Union Territories to make sure there are no large gatherings during the upcoming festival season and, impose localised restrictions, if necessary, in order to check the spread of the virus.

However, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said that the pandemic situation overall appears largely stable at the national level barring some confined resurgence in a few states.

“The total number of active cases and high case positivity in some districts continue to remain a matter of concern. The state governments and UT administrations concerned, having high positivity in their districts, should take pro-active containment measures so as to effectively arrest the spike in cases and to contain the spread of transmission. It is important to identify warning signs of potential surges early on and to take appropriate measures to curb the spread. This would require a localised approach, as has been mentioned in Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) advisories dated April 25 and June 28,” the Home Secretary told chief secretaries of all states and UTs in his letter.

Bhalla advised states and UTs to “take suitable measures to avoid large gatherings during the coming festive season and, if required, impose local restrictions to prevent such gatherings”.

He said that Covid-appropriate behaviour should be strictly enforced at all crowded places.

“There is a need to continue focus on the five-fold strategy – test-track-treat-vaccination and adherence to COVID-appropriate behaviour – for effective management of COVID-19,” Bhalla added, according to news agency PTI.