Amid surge, states told to increase Covid-19 testing, monitor strains

Ministry says more than 74% of the active cases of the country are reported from in Kerala, Maharashtra

NEW DELHI: Amid a spike in daily new cases of Covid-19 in some states including Maharashtra and Kerala, the Centre has advised them to increase the proportion of RT-PCR tests and regularly monitor mutant strains besides refocusing on strict surveillance and stringent containment in selected districts.

In a letter to the states, the government has also stressed that all negative rapid antigen test results should be mandatorily followed by RT-PCR test. India has been witnessing a rise in the Covid-19 active caseload over the past few days which is pegged at 1,45,634 as on date and now consists of 1.32 per cent of India’s total infections.

“More than 74 per cent of the active cases of the country are in Kerala and Maharashtra. Of late it is seen that there has been a spike in the daily cases in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh also. Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir too are witnessing a surge in daily new cases,” the ministry said.

In the last four weeks in Kerala, the average weekly cases have fluctuated between a high of 42,000 and a low of 34,800. Similarly, in the last four weeks, the weekly positivity in Kerala has ranged from 13.9 per cent to 8.9 per cent. In Kerala, the district of Alappuzha is a cause of special concern where the weekly positivity rate has increased to 10.7 per cent and weekly cases have increased to 2,833, the ministry underlined.

In Maharashtra, in the last four weeks, the weekly cases have shown a rising trend and have increased from 18,200 to