Karnataka continues to report an upsurge in COVID cases

• In series of High Level Review meetings, Centre advises States to maintain Strict Vigil, not let their
• Guard Down and undertake measures for Effective Containment and Management of COVID
• Multi-Disciplinary High Level Central teams rushed to States/UTs witnessing spike in cases

New Delhi, Feb 28, 2021: India’s total Active Caseload has reached 1,64,511 today. India’s present active caseload now stands at 1.48% of India’s total Positive Cases.

6 States – Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat- have shown a surge in new cases in the last 24 hours. 86.37% of the new cases are from these six States

16,752 new cases were registered in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 8,623. It is followed by Kerala with 3,792 while Punjab reported 593 new cases.

Eight states are displaying an upward trajectory in daily new cases.

The Centre has been engaging with the States and UTs exhibiting higher caseload of active cases and those reporting a spike in the daily new COVID cases. The Cabinet Secretary chaired a high-level review meeting yesterday with the States/UTs exhibiting a surge in cases including Telangana, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, MP, Gujarat, Punjab, J&K and West Bengal.

Cabinet Secretary reiterated that States need to maintain a continued rigorous vigil in terms of containing the spread and not squander away the gains of the collective hard work of the last year. They were advised not to lower their guard, enforce COVID Appropriate Behaviour and deal firmly with violations. It was strongly underlined that they need to follow effective surveillance strategies in respect of potential super spreading events. Need for effective testing, comprehensive tracking, prompt isolation of positive cases and quick quarantine of close contacts were also strongly emphasized.

The Centre has also deputed high-level multi-disciplinary teams to Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir (UT) to ascertain reasons for the surge and coordinate with the State Health Departments in COVID-19 control and containment measures.