Coronavirus: Amid XE variant scare, these are the Indian states reporting a COVID-19 surge

Although the overall tally of COVID-19 cases in the country have declined, certain Indian states are witnessing a spike in daily cases. Given the relaxation of coronavirus restrictions, people have become more carefree and less vigilant, facilitating the spread of the virus.

Additionally, the emergence of COVID's XE variant, which is a combination of both BA.1 and BA.2 subvariants of Omicron has caught people off-guard. The most recent case was detected in Gujarat after a 67-year-old man from Mumbai tested positive for the COVID during his visit to Vadodara.

Also read: Coronavirus symptom explained: How to identify a COVID-19 sore throat

Amid such unpredictability, Union Secretary Rajesh Bhushan says, “It is essential that the state must maintain a strict watch and take pre-emptive action if required in any areas of concern to control any emerging spread of infection. Testing and surveillance still remain important to track the virus, its spread and evolution."

For now, here are the list of Indian states seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases...

Delhi and NCR cities have been witnessing an uptick in the daily COVID cases. While the positivity rate has shot up to 2.39 percent, daily COVID tally crossed the 300 mark with 325 cases reported in the last 24 hours. On Thursday (April 14, 2022), the National Capital recorded 325 fresh cases. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said that the government is keeping a close check on the COVID situation and that “there is no need to panic”.

Kerala has reported over 2000 daily COVID-19 cases in the last seven days, along with over 250 death cases. The southern state of India has over 300 active cases currently.

Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 113 fresh coronavirus cases, which was 72 more cases than a day ago, along with 4 deaths.

As per a health official, Gujarat on Wednesday recorded 10 new cases of COVID-19, which increased the overall COVID tally to 12,24,116. As of today (Friday, 15 April) the state has 152 active cases.

Delhi's neighboring state Haryana Haryana has reported a nearly 50% rise in cases in the past few days. In light of the sudden surge, home and health minister Anil Vij said that he has directed additional chief secretary (health) Rajiv Arora to unravel the reason behind the rise in cases. “Arora has been told to check on sampling, particularly of the private labs, to verify if all cases are from Gurugram or other districts as well. The reason will only be clear once a report is submitted by him. Though the spike in cases is a matter of concern, the government is monitoring the situation closely,” the minister told the Hindustan Times.

The North-East state Mizoram reported over 700 daily COVID-19 cases and 2 deaths in the last one week. On Wednesday, the state recorded over 149 new cases in the last 24 hours with 115 people fully recovered.

As per the latest update by the Union Health Ministry, India reported 949 new COVID-19 cases and 6 deaths in the last 24 hours.