Covid-19: These districts saw 200% spike in cases in 1st two weeks of March

The districts reporting the highest percentage of rise are not the districts with the highest number of cases. And that is why the situation in these districts are worrying as they witnessed a sharp spike in the number of cases in the first two weeks of March.

The Union health ministry has identified the districts which are a cause of concern as the country is witnessing a ‘second wave’ of the Covid-19 pandemic. At least 70 districts in 16 states have registered over 150 per cent increase in active Covid-19 cases between March 1 and March 15. But the percentage in some districts are more than that. Madhya Pradesh’s Ratlam has seen the maximum hike with a 500 per cent increase in the number of cases between March 1 and March 15.

Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam has recorded a 500 per cent hike in the number of Covid-19 cases between March 1 and March 15. (PTI)

Here is the state-wise list of districts that have registered over 200 per cent spike in Covid-19 active cases.

The districts of concern, (Union health ministry)

Punjab

Punjab’s Rupnagar has registered a 256 per cent hike in the number of active cases.

Haryana

Yamunanagar (300%), Karnal (245%), Faridabad (225%), Panchkula (215%)

Sirmaur (367%), Solan (267%), Una (220%)

Rajasthan

Bhilwara (275%), Rajsamand (200%), Ajmer (200%)

Gujarat

Mehsana (225%)

Maharashtra

Nanded (385%), Nandurbar (224%), Beed (219%)

Chhattisgarh

Surahpur (425%)

Karnataka

Bidar (200%)

Madhya Pradesh

Ratlam (500%), Gwalior (360%), Khargone (250%), Ujjain (214%)

However, these are not the districts that have the highest number of active Covid-19 cases. These have become a cause of concern because their rate of increase in the number of case is very high. Most of these districts maintained a low number of Covid-19 cases in February. Hence, whatever increase took place translated into a high percentage.

Here’s a list of districts with the highest number of active cases



Top 10 districts in active Covid-19 cases. (Photo: Health ministry)



Pune (32,359)

Nagpur (21,496)

Mumbai (15,410)

Thane (14,644)

Nashik (9,821)

Aurangabad (9,621)

Bengaluru Urban (7,344)

Jalgaon (4,610)

Nanded (4,059)

Amravati (3,697)

Apart from Bengaluru Urban, all nine districts contributing the highest to India’s active Covid-19 caseload are in Maharashtra, which on Thursday saw the highest-ever single-day spike of 25,833 new cases.