Maharashtra currently contributes to over 60 per cent of new cases detected in entire India. It is not just Maharashtra where cases have shot up in recent days. Some parts of Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Punjab have also shown a rise in the number of cases. Ironically, this comes at a time when much of India is reporting a sharp fall in cases, with daily infections for the county falling to less than 20,000 from a peak of over 90,000 in September last year.
People in some States have started taking it too lightly and masks are off and there is hardly any respect for physical distancing, specially, while travelling in local trains in Maharashtra and Mumbai in particular. Also, other common reasons given for the spikes in some States are the same as in Maharashtra big weddings, reopening of cinema halls, gyms and swimming pools, and large political rallies the last especially in States like West Bengal where elections are due soon.
Through the Covid pandemic in India, Maharashtra has had the biggest influence on the national COVID trajectory. With more than 22 lakh confirmed infections, the State accounts for over 20 per cent of all cases in India. On individual days, it has contributed over 40 per cent of all cases during its peak. But even by those standards, Maharashtra’s dominance in the ongoing second wave has been very high. On Thursday last week, the contribution of the State to India’s daily count of cases exceeded 60 per cent for the first time. Of the 23,285 positive cases reported from across the country, 14,317 came from Maharashtra.
On Friday, the State reported nearly 16,000 new cases. The national figures were yet to be compiled, but Maharashtra is expected to retain its 60 per cent share for the next few days, considering that the second wave has remained largely confined to this State.
The closest that any other State came to dominating the national case count was Kerala, which at its peak in January this year was contributing about 45 per cent of all cases in the country. As Kerala came back to steady itself, Maharashtra witnessed a resurgence of viral cases in the first week of February, a path to second peak. After September 2020, the cases were on a downhill journey.
The State of Kerala right now has over 36,000 active cases followed by Punjab with over 10,000 active cases. Punjab too is growing at a fast rate and is treading on Maharashtra’s way. Also, why only two States in India, Maharashtra and Punjab are the ones where the second wave has been confined it becomes a clear study path for researchers to work on behavioural sciences. Meanwhile, Haryana, Delhi and Gujarat, have also been reporting an increase in COVID positive cases but the situation remains comparatively less serious than to Punjab or Maharashtra.
India has reported 25,320 fresh cases of COVID positive in the last 24 hours, the highest daily rise in almost three months. This takes the total tally to over 1.13 crore cases, the Health Ministry data on Sunday morning reflected. The death count increased to 158,607 on Sunday with 161 new fatalities, the highest in 44 days. The number of fresh infections is nearly 1.7 per cent higher than that of Saturday, when the country registered 24,882 cases. Overall, India has now recorded 1,13,59,048 cases since the outbreak over a year ago, according to the government data.
The tables have now turned and Maharashtra is expected to touch the 20,000 cases a day mark in the next few days. More than half of 1.97 lakh active cases in India belong to Maharashtra. Since Wednesday last week, Mumbai, Akola, Pune, Nagpur and Nashik divisions have been witnessing a spike in single-day infection count. This is a very concerning statistic and the Maharashtra government after observing the upsurge has announced lockdowns and night curfews in several hotspots. It is also a call for Goa to ensure its safety as Maharashtra and Karnataka are its immediate neighbours. It is showing signs of concern and individual precautions can only be the way to fight against a possible second wave in the State. Mask on, distancing must is the ‘mantra’ to fight this menace.
