India’s active COVID-19 caseload was 1,51,708 on Thursday, comprising 1.37% of the total positive cases. This is largely attributable to the upsurge in daily new cases in Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. All these States have recorded a rise in daily new cases, said a release issued by the Ministry.

India has reported 16,738 new daily COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. Of them, 89.57% are from seven States. Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 8,807, followed by Kerala with 4,106, while Punjab reported 558 new cases.

“On the other hand, the country has been witnessing a continuous decline in cumulative positivity rate. As on 25th Feb 2021, the cumulative positivity rate stands at 5.17%,” said the release.

It added that India’s cumulative recoveries stand at 1,07,38,501 on Thursday and the recovery rate is 97.21%. “The gap between total recovered cases and the active cases is constantly rising and stands at 10,586,793 today. India has reported 11,799 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours,” said the Ministry.

The Centre has also written to States/UTs to focus on undertaking aggressive measures to break the chain of transmission, and directed that positive persons are to be promptly isolated/hospitalised. All their close contacts are also to be traced and tested without delay. “States have been advised to review the emerging situation on a regular basis with concerned district officials to ensure that gains made so far in COVID management are not lost,” noted the Ministry.

The Centre has deputed high-level multi-disciplinary teams to Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir to ascertain the reasons for the surge, and coordinate with the State Health Departments in COVID-19 control and containment measures.