The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday issued an order to extend the earlier 'guidelines for COVID-19 surveillance', which will remain in force upto January 31, 2021.

"While there has been a continuous decline in the active and new COVID-19 cases, there is need to maintain surveillance, containment and caution, keeping in view the surge in cases globally, and emergence of a new variant of the virus in the United Kingdom (UK)," the MHA said in a press release.