Coronavirus | ‘Serious concern’ over COVID-19 in 11 States/UTs

Situation is particularly worrying in Maharashtra, Punjab and Chhattisgarh

The current COVID-19 case growth rate of 6.8% in March 2021 has surpassed the previous record of 5.5% (June 2020), noted a release issued by the Central government following a meeting chaired by the Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Friday. The government has also identified 11 States/UTs as areas of grave concern — Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Haryana. These States/UTs have been reporting a surge in daily cases and daily mortality because of COVID-19 in the last two weeks. The meeting was to review and discuss the COVID-19 management and response strategy. “Another worrisome aspect pointed out at the meeting was that Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities along with peri-urban areas have recorded a surge in COVID-19 cases. The spread of infection to the rural areas with weak health infrastructure would overwhelm the local administration,”’ noted the release.