As Covid cases spike, Centre asks six states to keep a strict vigil

With Covid cases rising in the country, the central government has written to six states — Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, and Gujarat  — to be on alert and take steps to control the sudden increase in the number of cases.  

The letter has asked the states to follow a strategy focused on testing, tracking, treating and vaccinating. 

“There are few states which are reporting higher number of cases indicating possible localised spread of infection and there is a need to follow a risk assessment-based approach to prevent and contain the infection, without losing the gains made so far in the fight against the pandemic,” said a letter written by the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan.

This comes at a time when the last few week saw a sudden increase in the number of cases in India with the total number of cases increasing from 2,082 in the week ending March 8 to 3,264 in week ending March 15.

 Among the states, Maharashtra has reported a rise in weekly cases from 355 to 668 during the same period.  On Wednesday, the state had a higher positivity rate of 1.92 per cent, as against 0.61 per cent for the entire country. Karnataka too reported an increase in weekly cases from 493 in the week ending March 8 to 604 cases in the week ending March 15. The positivity rate in the state was seen at of 2.77 per cent.

During the same period, Gujarat saw an increase in weekly cases from 105 to 279 with a positivity rate of 1.11 per cent, Kerala from 434 to 579 with a positivity rate 2.64 per cent, Telangana from 132 to 267 with a positivity rate of 0.31 per cent and Tamil Nadu from 170 to 258 with a positivity rate of 1.99 per cent.

"It is essential that the state must maintain a strict watch and take pre-emptive action if required in any areas of concern to control emerging spread of infection," the letter said. It also advised the states to examine the situation of Covid at micro level (district and sub-districts), and maintain focus on implementation of necessary measures for prompt and effective management of Covid-19.