Covid-19 India update: After Maharashtra and Punjab, these states show upward trend in daily cases

After witnessing a consistent slump in coronavirus cases for a month or so, many states in India are now seeing a fresh surge in daily Covid-19 cases. The spike that was so long confined to Maharashtra and Punjab has now spread to other states as well.

Growth pattern in other states

Delhi, for example, recorded more than 300 cases on Friday and Saturday. The highest number of cases recorded in a day last month was 256 .i.e on February 26; crossing the 300-mark come nearly after one and a half months. While the numbers might not seem alarming right now considering the city had witnessed more than 8,000 cases at one point in time, it might just be the beginning of another wave.

Gujarat has reported more than 500 Covid-19 cases for the past two days, something that has happened after a slump of almost one and a half months. In February, the state touched a low of 232 cases a day but seeing last few weeks, the state too is witnessing an upward trend again.

In other north and central Indian states of Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, a similar growth trajectory has been noticed even though cases are now close to that of Maharashtra and Punjab. In fact, in all these states the growth trajectories are almost similar, witnessing a downward slope since the start of the year and then a turnaround happening in March.

The trend in these states resonates with the national Covid graph where the lowest level was reached by mid-February after which it started rising again. In the past two days, more than 18,000 Covid-19 cases have been reported in the country. After January 1, 19,079 cases, the second-highest number of Covid-19 cases recorded so far this year was today, March 8 at 18599 and 97 deaths.

Yet the rise in number is not surprising considering the relaxation of travel restrictions. In most states, there is no mandatory PCR testing or quarantine protocol for passengers coming from Maharashtra. Hence it can be said that the rising number of Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra is impacting other states as well.

Reason for Maharashtra trend, yet unexplained

However, why Maharashtra is seeing a resurgence still not clear as the most probable reasons like not wearing masks or maintaining physical distance, public gathering, etc. are unique to it. For example, West Bengal, where public rallies are taking place due to upcoming assembly elections has not witnessed as concerning a spike in cases as in Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, Mumbai, which even saw less than 2,000 cases in a day, has started reporting more than 10, 000 cases. The same holds true for Pune that is in the second spot as the worst affected city only after Delhi.

Although low in absolute number, the comparative resurgence in Punjab is as much as Maharashtra. In the last three days, the daily numbers have twice been more than 1,000. On Saturday, 1,159 cases were discovered, which is the highest in five months.

Only silver lining

Even with the fresh spike in Covid-19 cases, there is no rise in deaths. However, the trend is the death number shows up only after two to three weeks following the detection of new cases. Even then there is no discernible increase in the mortality rate. The number in the national figure has been in two-digits or lower three-digits since the last week of January.