Why increase in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra is worrisome

Coronavirus cases in India have been increasing with a major influence on the national trajectory coming from just one state- Maharashtra. The state, which seems to be under the second wave of the novel Coronavirus outbreak, has reported more than 22 lakh confirmed infections till now. This has taken the overall contribution of the state to over 20 per cent of total cases in India. A report by The Indian Express noted that these infections on some individual days also accounted for more than 40 per cent of India’s daily COVID-19 tally during its peak. However, the second peak is showing dominance in the state as the cases are now recorded very high.

The report noted that this week, the state single-handedly accounted for more that 60 per cent of the daily cases, which is a first. On Thursday, when single day counts for COVID-19 cases in India stood at 23,285, Maharashtra contributed 14,317 among these. Similarly on Friday, 16,000 new cases came from the state. Now, one day rises are something that can be dealt with and can be expected at a time like this, however, Maharashtra is retaining its contribution as highest among the national numbers. The report noted that going by this data, 3 in every 5 cases are coming from Maharashtra and that is worrisome.

Prior to Maharashtra driving India’s COVID-19 toll, Kerala too was contributing to cases in a similar manner in January this year. At that time, Kerala had around 45 per cent of the new cases surfacing in India. When other states in India were going steady or reporting declining numbers in caseload (a hope for pandemic ending in India), the second wave hit and resulted in an average increase of cases.

As Kerala came back to a steady track, Maharashtra suddenly witnessed resurgence of viral cases in the first week of February- a path also known as second peak. After September 2020, the cases were on a downhill journey. However, the tables have now turned and Maharashtra is expected to touch 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. Kerala right now has 36,000 active cases followed by Punjab with over 10,000 active cases. Punjab too is growing at a fast rate, treading on Maharashtra’s path.

The report noted that there has been no good reason that could explain as to why the cases are on sudden rise and leading to a second wave in India. Also, why only two states in India- Maharashtra and Punjab are the ones where the second wave has been confined- remains inexplicable.

Meanwhile, Haryana, Delhi and Gujarat, have also been reporting an increase in Coronavirus numbers but the situation remains less serious when compared to Punjab or Maharashtra.