NEW DELHI: The ministry of home affairs (MHA) on Friday wrote a letter to all states and union territories asking them to take all necessary measures to promote Covid-19 appropriate behaviour amid rising cases across the country.
The home ministry noted that the sudden rise in cases is due to laxity in Covid-19 behaviour.
“After the steady decline in Covid-19 cases for about 5 months, for the last few weeks, the number of Covid-19 cases are showing an increasing trend in several parts of the country. It has been observed that it is largely due to laxity in the observance of Covid-19 appropriate behaviour by the people, especially in crowded places,” Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla said in his letter to states.

The Centre further urged states to enforce strict Covid guidelines such as wearing masks, hand hygiene and social distancing ahead of upcoming festivals.
“Take necessary measures to create awareness among people to follow Covid appropriate behaviour and simultaneously take necessary action for its strict enforcement, so as to fully overcome the pandemic,” MHA told states.
Over the past five days, India has seen the sharpest surge in Covid-19 infections in at least the last 10 months, with the seven-day rolling average of daily cases rising by as much as 39% during this period.
The count of daily cases almost touched 40,000 on Thursday, with 39,670 fresh infections recorded in the past 24 hours. This was the highest single-day tally of cases since November 28 last year.
Maharashtra logged its highest-ever daily case count of 25,833, while 15 other states/Union territories reported their highest single-day tallies since January or earlier.