Amidst surge in COVID-19 cases, Central teams rushed to Maharashtra & Kerala: MoS Health

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Bharati Pravin Pawar on Monday warned the public that COVID-19 is not over yet. The newly appointed minister said that the government is working closely to fight the spread of the infection further. The minister also said that the Centre is monitoring the developments by state governments.

Speaking about the rise in coronavirus cases in the states of Maharashtra & Kerala, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar said that the Centre is monitoring it. “Central govt's team is working on the ground. We're continuously monitoring the situation, taking feedbacks from State govts regularly. COVID-19 is yet not over,” the minister said.  

Pawar said that the Central government has given strict guidelines for the states to follow. The minister asked the state governments to act by it, while also urging the public to wear masks and avoid crowded places. She further said that the government will take more measures to contain the infection and Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandavia is regularly conducting meetings. "He had meetings yesterday as well," she added.

37,154 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours

India seems far from safe as some of the states in the country continues to witness a surge in the number of fresh COVID cases. According to the Union Health Ministry on Monday, India reported 37,154 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. The current active caseload in the county stands at 4,50,899. The active cases constitute 1.46 per cent of the total cases.

Two of the most affected states, Kerala recorded 12,220 cases on Sunday, while Maharashtra reported 8,535 fresh coronavirus positive cases. With 97 new fatalities, the death toll mounted to 14,586. Test positivity rate in the state was recorded at 10.48 per cent. Meanwhile, the state of Maharashtra reported 156 fatalities in the last 24 hours.  

The minister had earlier on July 9, said that the government is positive about a decline in the cases in these states. Speaking about the concerns of the new delta variant in states, Pawar had said, "Maharashtra definitely reeling under the impact of COVID-19 and witnessed a new delta variant. The cases have gone up in Kerala as well. A decline in cases has begun yet cases are comparatively high in these states."

IMAGE: TWITTER