Punjab sees 47% rise in Covid cases

New Delhi, February 20

Punjab is among the five states witnessing an upsurge in daily Covid cases over the past week with the state recording a 47.30 per cent jump in 24-hour infections between February 14 and 20.

Along with Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, Punjab today contributed 87 per cent of new cases even as Kerala and Maharashtra alone made up for 75.87 per cent of the active caseload in India.

As against 260 new cases on February 14, Punjab saw 383 cases today, a surge of 47.30 per cent, while the corresponding surge was the highest for Maharashtra at 69.26 per cent (from 3,611 cases on February 14 to 6,112 today).

The daily cases in the country climbed to about 13,993 after nearly 22 days.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan appealed for use of face masks and adhering to social distancing norms. The minister said the government would revisit the behavioural strategy part as the vaccination drive progressed. The Centre is hoping to push herd immunity by fast-tracking vaccination, but the pace of progress remains slow. — TNS