With just four States—Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal—accounting more than half of the total cases in the country, the Centre is fearing that the continued rise in infection there might negate the results gained in other parts of the country where cases are on decline.

The Centre has asked the States to take corrective steps to contain the infection.

About 28.61 per cent cases are in Kerala, followed by 22.79 per cent in Maharashtra, 3.99 per cent in Chhattisgarh and 3.89 per cent in West Bengal.

“These states have been advised by the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan  to maintain strict vigil and to take steps to keep a check on the rising cases, especially in view of the new coronavirus strain observed in certain countries, which has also been reported in a few States in India,” said a senior official from the Ministry.

In a letter to them, Bhushan drew the attention of the states to their low and declining testing rates and warned that any laxity at this crucial junction may squander the results of collective actions in containing the transmission.

He advised them to analyse the surge at the district and sub-district levels to understand the reasons for this rise and aggressively implement the ‘Test-Track-Treat” strategy.

The health authorities in the states have also been advised to proactively promote wearing of mask and other Covid appropriate behaviours even while the vaccination drive is about to begin.

In this regard, a high-level central team led by Dr SK Singh, Director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has been rushed to Kerala to review the public health interventions in management of Covid-19 in the State.