Six states contribute 86% of daily new Covid cases: Govt data

According to the Union ministry of health and family welfare, Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Karnataka have shown the maximum increase in new cases on a week-on-week basis

Six states in India currently contribute nearly 86% of the new cases of Coronavirus disease (Covid-19), government data shows. Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka also continue to report a surge in the daily new cases.

Outstation passengers undergo Covid-19 tests on their arrival at Thane railway station, as Maharashtra sees renewed spike in coronavirus cases, in Thane on February 21. (File photo)

On Wednesday, 14,989 new cases were registered from across the country, of which Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 7,863. It is followed by Kerala with 2,938 cases, while Punjab reported 729 new cases.

According to the Union ministry of health and family welfare, Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Karnataka have shown the maximum increase in new cases on a week-on-week basis.

“Maharashtra alone accounted for a weekly increase of 16,012 cases, in terms of the number of cases. In percentage terms, Punjab reported the weekly increase of 71.5% (1,783 cases),” said health ministry in a statement.

Central teams that have been rushed to these states, to assist local authorities in managing the situation, are trying to get to the cause, and initial observation says large gatherings and drop in overall testing could have led to the surge.

“It is a season of weddings, and people tend to gather in large numbers on such occasions and also there is somewhat laxity in observing Covid-19 appropriate behaviour. Another reason could be drop in overall testing as some of the states where there has been seen a surge, Covid-19 testing relatively went down. The teams have been directed to brief the state authorities in detail about the reasons so that the situation can be managed accordingly,” said a senior government official in the know of things, who did not wish to be identified.

The three-member teams are headed by joint secretary level officers in the health ministry. The teams have been rushed to Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Jammu and Kashmir.

Apart from the teams on ground, the central government is constantly in touch with the state governments where high case load of active cases and the surge in new cases has been reported.

“States/UTs have been advised to maintain a continued rigorous vigil for containing the spread of Covid-19 such the gains of collective efforts are not squandered away. Need for effective testing, comprehensive tracking, prompt isolation of positive cases and quick quarantine of close contacts are strongly emphasised,” said health ministry in a statement.