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Business News/ News / India/  Govt warns of resurgence in covid as numbers spike
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Govt warns of resurgence in covid as numbers spike

Worried about increasing caseload, Centre urges states to improve testing measures

Medical staff prepares a dose of covid-19 vaccine. Photo: APPremium
Medical staff prepares a dose of covid-19 vaccine. Photo: AP

New Delhi: India is witnessing a resurgence of coronavirus. The worrying trend comes at a time when the pandemic appeared to be slowing in the country and globally.

With more than 13,919 cases in the past 24 hours, India’s active caseload hit 145,634 on Sunday, or 1.32% of the total positive cases. More than 74% of active cases are in Kerala and Maharashtra. Of late, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir have also seen a spike in daily cases.

“In the past four weeks in Kerala, the average weekly cases have fluctuated between a high of 42,000 to a low of 34,800. Similarly, in the past four weeks, the weekly positivity in Kerala ranged from 13.9% to 8.9%. The district of Alappuzha is a cause of special concern where the weekly positivity rate has increased to 10.7% and weekly cases have increased to 2,833," the Union health ministry said in a statement.

India is witnessing a resurgence of coronavirus.
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India is witnessing a resurgence of coronavirus.

According to ministry data, in the past four weeks, Maharashtra’s weekly case count has been rising from 18,200 to 21,300 and the weekly positivity rate has jumped from 4.7% to 8%. “The areas of concern are Mumbai suburban areas where weekly cases have risen by 19%. In Nagpur, Amravati, Nashik, Akola and Yavatmal, the weekly cases increased by 33%, 47%, 23%, 55% and 48%, respectively," the ministry said.

The situation in Punjab, too, is rapidly becoming critical with the weekly positivity rate increasing from 1.4% to 1.6% in the past four weeks. The number of cases has risen from 1,300 to 1682 a week. In SBS Nagar district alone, the weekly positivity rate has jumped from 3.5% to 4.9%, with cases more than doubling from 165 to 364.

According to Union government data, five states and Union territories have breached the national average for weekly positivity rate of 1.79%. Maharashtra reported the highest rate of 8.10%.

Worried about the rising case tally, the Centre has written to the states to improve testing especially RT-PCR tests. It said states should ensure all negative rapid antigen test results are mandatorily followed with RT-PCR tests. The Centre also asked states to strictly implement a comprehensive surveillance and stringent containment measures in select districts.

Meanwhile, India has vaccinated more than 11 million as of Sunday. The second dose of covid-19 vaccination began on 13 February for those who completed 28 days of the first jab. Vaccination of frontline workers began on 2 February. On day 36 of the vaccination drive, 432,931 vaccine doses were administered, of which, 256,488 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 8,575 sessions for the first dose, while 176,443 received the second dose.

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Published: 21 Feb 2021, 03:10 PM IST
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