6 states contributed to 86.37% of new Covid-19 cases, says govt
The states have been advised to increase Covid-19 testing and develop strategies with respect to potential super spreading events.
Six states continued to record a surge in new cases of the coronavirus cases (Covid-19) in the last 24 hours and contributed to 86.37 per cent of the fresh infections in the country, the Centre said on Sunday. These six states are Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, the government said.
High-level multi-disciplinary teams have already been deputed to Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, to ascertain the reasons for the surge and coordinate with the state health departments in Covid-19 control and containment measures. The states have been advised to increase Covid-19 testing and develop strategies with respect to potential super spreading events.
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“The Centre has told the States to follow effective surveillance strategies in respect of potential super spreading events. Need for effective testing, comprehensive tracking, prompt isolation of positive cases & quick quarantine of close contacts were also strongly emphasized,” said the Union health ministry in a statement.
Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan also wrote a letter to Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, asking the six states and the one Union territory to focus on aggressive measures to break the chain of transmission and ensure that RT-PCR testing is intensified to find undetected cases.
Maharashtra on Saturday reported over 8,000 fresh coronavirus cases for the fourth consecutive day. The state reported 8,623 new cases and 3,638 recoveries. Kerala on Saturday reported 3,792 fresh Covid-19 cases, pushing the cumulative count of cases in the state to 10, 56,149. The state registered 18 deaths in the last 24 hours taking the death toll in the state to 4,182.
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Punjab reported 595 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 1,81,597. The cumulative death toll in Punjab stands at 5,825. Karnataka on Saturday recorded 523 new cases of coronavirus and six deaths, taking the caseload and toll to 9,50,730 and 12,326 respectively. Tamil Nadu reported 486 new Covid-19 cases and five more fatalities on Saturday, taking the tally to 8,51,063 and toll to 12,493.
Gujarat on Saturday reported 451 fresh coronavirus positive cases, taking the count of infections to 2,69,482. The overall death toll in Gujarat rose to 4,409 with one more person succumbing to Covid-19 disease on Saturday.
India reported 16,752 new Covid-19 cases and 113 deaths during the last 24 hours the health ministry’s data updated at 8am showed on Sunday. With this, the coronavirus caseload in the country has gone up to 11,096,731, including 164,511 active cases and 10,775,169 discharges.
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The country will begin the second phase of its Covid-19 vaccination programme for people above 60 years of age and those above 45 years of age with comorbidities, on March 1. The second phase of the vaccination will also include armed forces and police personnel. For this, the government has roped in 20,000 private hospitals and 10,000 government centres.
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