Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday informed that of the top 10 districts having the most active COVID-19 cases in the country, seven are from Maharashtra, one from Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, and Delhi, each.
Addressing a press conference, Bhushan said, “Of the top 10 districts having most of active COVID cases, seven districts are from Maharashtra, one from Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, and Delhi each,” he said.
India reported over 96,000 cases and 440 related deaths in the last 24 hours. Currently, there are 7,88,223 active cases in the nation.
The Health Secretary further said that death numbers being reported in Punjab and Chhattisgarh are the cause of extreme concern.
“Of all the active cases in the country, 58 percent of active cases are in Maharashtra. 34 percent of the total deaths have been reported in Maharashtra,” he said.
“We have suggested the state governments increase the percentage of RT-PCR (Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) tests, which is reducing in Maharashtra in the last few weeks. Only 60 percent of total tests were done through the RT-PCR method in Maharashtra last week. We suggest states take it to 70 percent or above,” Bhushan mentioned.
He said that Chhattisgarh is a cause of concern. “Despite being a small state, it reports 6 percent of total COVID cases and 3 percent of total deaths in the country. The condition of Chhattisgarh has deteriorated in the second wave of infections,” he added.
“In Punjab, around 4.5 percent of deaths are reported due to COVID. Compared to Punjab, active cases and death toll are very low in Delhi and Haryana. It is satisfactory that share of RT-PCR tests in average daily tests has increased to 76 percent in Punjab,” Bhushan added.
The central government has already deployed 50 high-level multidisciplinary public health teams in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Punjab. They will be going to 30 districts of Maharashtra, 11 districts of Chhattisgarh, and nine districts of Punjab.
The teams will assist state health department and district administrations in surveillance, control, and containment measures. They will be submitting daily reports to state government and union health ministry, Bhushan said. (ANI)
