NEW DELHI: With India witnessing a sharp rise in coronavirus infections, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Saturday held a meeting with officials from 12 worst-hit states and presented a five-fold containment strategy to bring the situation under control.
The states were informed that the country has seen the sharpest increase in weekly cases and fatalities since May last year and as many as 46 districts accounted for 71% of the cases and 69% of the deaths this month, the Union health ministry said in a statement.

It added that 25 out of the 36 districts in Maharashtra are badly hit by the virus and account for nearly 60% of the new cases reported in the country.
In a detailed presentation, the health secretary said that granular analysis revealed that almost 90% of the Covid deaths continue to be in the category of those above the age of 45.
Citing a central study, Bhushan said that it was found that while 90% of the people are aware of the situation, only 44% actually wear face masks.
“One infected person could spread Covid-19 to an average of 406 other individuals in a 30 day window without restrictions which could be reduced to just 15 by decreasing physical exposure to 50% and to a further 2.5 (average) by decreasing physical exposure to 75%,” the states were told.
During the meeting, it was also highlighted that the “second wave” in India reflects more laxity on the part of the people as Covid norms are not being followed properly.
“Hence stringent action including effective containment and contact tracing for at least 14 successive days in the 46 districts was strongly recommended for breaking the chain of transmission and not frittering away the gains of collaborative efforts of last year,” the health ministry statement said.
Bhushan also recommended the following five-fold containment strategy to curb the situation.