NEW DELHI — India’s interior ministry on Friday extended the prevailing restrictions for surveillance, containment, and caution against the spread of COVID-19 till the end of March. The restrictions were to have expired at midnight on Feb. 28.

"There is a need to maintain surveillance, containment, and caution so as to fully overcome the pandemic. States and Union Territories have also been advised to speed up the vaccination of the target population so as to break the chain of transmission and overcome the pandemic," the ministry’s guidelines for the coming month said.

Containment zones, which are areas with a high COVID-19 infection rate, must continue to be demarcated carefully and prescribed containment measures are to be strictly followed within these zones.

"COVID-19-appropriate behavior must be promoted and enforced and the Standard Operating Procedures prescribed in respect of various permitted activities must be followed scrupulously," the ministry warned. — WAM