India on Wednesday reported a record 115,736 new COVID-19 cases, a 13-fold increase in just over two months. The number of cases since the first recorded infection in India just over a year ago stands at 12.8 million, making it the third worst hit country after the United States and Brazil. While some of the hardest hit states, including Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab and Karnataka have imposed fresh restrictions and curfews, some states are emerging as new hotspots of coronavirus infections.
Here’s a look at the states that are witnessing a worrying upsurge in COVID-19 cases:
Chhattisgarh
With the detection of 9,921 fresh COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, Chhattisgarh saw its highest single-day spike since the outbreak of the infection in March last year, taking the states caseload to 3,68,269, a health department official said. With 53 more deaths caused due to the viral infection and co-morbidities, the statewide toll mounted to 4,416, the official said.
In Raipur district, the Chhattisgarh government on Wednesday announced a lockdown with effect from April 9 to 19, an official said. Raipur Collector S Bharathi Dasan has issued the order declaring the entire area of the district, including the state capital, as a containment zone and restricted several activities from 6 pm on April 9 till 6 am on April 19. Raipur had reported 76,427 COVID-19 cases, including 1,001 deaths till Tuesday. The number of active cases is 13,107. In the last six days, the district witnessed 10,755 new cases and 93 deaths.
Goa
Goa had on Tuesday reported 387 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the tally to 59,702, while the toll stood at 838. The coastal state currently has 2,471 active cases. However, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday said that the coastal state will not go for a lockdown, as the move will disrupt the economic activities. Meanwhile, the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) decided to introduce some protocols at its facility amid the spike in infections. State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane chaired a meeting of heads of departments of the hospital to review the COVID-19 protocols and management of services. It was decided that telephone service for booking appointments for the outpatient department will be resumed and pandals will be put up outside the hospital to seamlessly manage the outpatient services. The number of visitors for patients will also be restricted in view of the rising cases.
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir recorded 561 fresh COVID-19 cases on Tuesday that took its tally to 1,34,015, while two more fatalities pushed the death toll to 2,012, officials said. Of the fresh cases, 384 were reported from the Kashmir division and 177 from the Jammu division, they said. Srinagar district recorded the highest number of fresh cases at 222, including 63 travellers, followed by 99 in Jammu and 54 in Baramulla, according to the officials. Budgam, Anantnag, Ganderbal, Kulgam, Udhampur and Kathy were the other districts that registered cases in double digits. Nine other districts recorded fresh cases in single digits while two did not report any new cases.The number of active cases in Jammu and Kashmir stands at 4,483, while 1,27,520 patients have recovered so far, the officials said. The two deaths were reported from the Kashmir valley, they said.
Andhra Pradesh
Coronavirus has been spreading at a virulent pace in Andhra Pradesh as at least 10 districts reported hundreds of fresh cases, totalling 2,331 in 24 hours ending 9 am on Wednesday — the highest in a day after November 8, 2020. The positive cases have now shot upto 9,13,274 after 1.53 crore tests, at an overall infection positivity rate of 5.97 per cent. Also, there were 11 fresh fatalities, the highest in a day in more than three months as the overall toll mounted to 7,262. According to the latest bulletin, 853 patients had recovered from the infection in 24 hours ending 9 am today, taking the cumulative to 8,92,736. There are now 13,276 active cases, the highest since November 23, last year.
Besides the five hot spot districts that have been reporting fresh cases in three digits for the past few days, five others joined the list today with over 100 cases each. Guntur continued to top the chart with an addition of 368 new cases followed by Krishna 327, Visakhapatnam 298, Chittoor 296, Anantapuramu 202, SPS Nellore 186, Kurnool 176, Kadapa 149, Srikakulam 123 and Prakasam 110. While Vizianagaram added 47, the two Godavari districts – East and West – continued to report the lowest of 29 and 20. Guntur district crossed the 80,000-mark in the number of cases today with 80,126 behind Chittoor (91,740), West Godavari (94,626) and East Godavari (1,25,529). Chittoor reported four fresh fatalities and Kurnool two while Anantapuramu, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, Krishna and SPS Nellore saw one each in a day.
Odisha
Odisha on Wednesday reported 791 fresh COVID-19 cases, the highest count of 2021 so far, pushing the tally to 3,44,647, a health department official said. The death toll rose to 1,923 after one more patient from Puri succumbed to the disease, he said. Of the new cases, 459 were reported from quarantine centres and 332 detected during contact tracing. Sundargarh district reported the highest number of fresh cases at 147, followed by Khurda (118), Bargarh (48), Cuttack (46) and Sambalpur (45). Efforts are being made to trace contacts of the fresh patients, the official said. Active cases in Odisha jumped to 4,255, from just 694 on March 7, and 3,38,416 patients have so far recovered from the disease, he said.
Bihar
The second wave of COVID-19 is spreading at a rapid pace in Bihar with the state reporting 935 new cases across 38 districts on Tuesday. Of these, the state capital alone reported 432 cases, including 18 students testing postive at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Patna, located on the outskirts of the city in the Bihta sub-town.Two students returned to the campus after the Holi holidays on Sunday and tested positive for the virus, the registrar of IIT Patna said. Following which 41 more were tested, of which 16 reports returned positive.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting in Patna to review the coronavirus situation in the state and directed officials to pull up their socks to contain the recent spike in COVID cases. Kumar said that there was a possibility of return of migrants from worst-affected states and, as such, officials must set up quarantine centres at block levels on the lines of the ones which were established last year when millions had returned home after losing their jobs and homes during the nationwide lockdown. He also reaffirmed the need for raising testing rate in the state. The chief minister ordered testing of all health and frontline workers as well as their kins. He further emphasised on speeding up the inoculation process in the state.
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