India Coronavirus Case Surge: Lack of Covid-appropriate behaviour cited as a reason.
With 1,03,558 fresh Covid cases, India has seen the biggest-ever daily surge, taking the tally to 1,25,89,067. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday held a high-level meet to review the situation; central teams have been rushed to three states.
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PM Modi, in a tweet after the review meet, said: "Reviewed the COVID-19 and vaccination related situation across the country. Reiterated the importance of the five fold strategy of testing, tracing, treatment, Covid-appropriate behaviour and vaccination as an effective way to fight the global pandemic. (sic)"
The sharp rise in cases could be "mainly attributed to the severe decline in compliance of Covid-appropriate behaviour primarily in terms of use of masks and maintaining '2 gaj ki doori' (six-feet distance), pandemic fatigue and lack of effective implementation of containment measures at the field-level," a government statement said on Sunday after the Prime Minister's meet.
As India battles the second Covid wave, Maharashtra, the worst-hit state in the country, saw the highest-ever daily surge with 57,074 fresh infections on Sunday. Mumbai, India's financial capital, also saw the highest-ever single-day spike with 11,163 new infections, taking the city's tally to 4,52,445 cases.
The Uddhav Thackeray-government on Sunday announced new restrictions including a night curfew in the state and a "strict lockdown" over the weekends from Friday 8 pm to Monday 7 am amid the unprecedented Covid surge.
The central government has decided to send teams to Maharashtra, Punjab and Chhattisgarh because of the high number of fresh daily cases and the disproportionate number of deaths.
Delhi also recorded a huge spike of 4,000 fresh infections taking the Covid tally to 6.76,414 infections. This is the highest daily surge this year. It was one of the top five states that reported the highest number of cases in the last 24 hours.
Chhattisgarh (5,250), Karnataka (4,553) and Uttar Pradesh (4,136) are the other three states that saw the biggest spike in cases in the last 24 hours, the government data shows.
The last time India recorded the biggest surge in daily infections was on September 17 when 97,894 infections were recorded in a day. The recent spike in cases has been linked to infectious variants.
The surge in cases comes ahead of polling in four states - Assam, Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala - and Pondicherry, a union territory. The Election Commission has ensured Covid protocols are strictly followed at polling booths.
Last week, India widened its vaccine to net to all those who are 45 and above. The country aims to vaccinate over 30 crore people by July. India has logged the third highest number of cases in the world after the United States and Brazil.
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