Mumbai: In its highest single-day jump in more than three months, Maharashtra on Wednesday reported a huge spike of 8,807 COVID-19 cases. On the other side, 80 lost their lives amid the contagion. Only 2,772 recoveries were reported as new restrictions were imposed in several regions of Maharashtra to restraint in the sudden surge of the infection.

With seeing rise in COVID cases, the Centre has deputed high level multi-disciplinary teams to Maharashtra for supporting in public health measures for targeted Covid-19 response and management, and effectively tackling the pandemic.

The three-member multidisciplinary teams are headed by Joint Secretary level officers in the Union Health Ministry. These teams will work closely with the states and UT administration and ascertain reasons for recent surge in the number of Covid-19 cases.

They will also coordinate with health authorities of the states and UT for requisite Covid-19 control measures to break the chain of transmission. The team is also reserved for other states such as Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir

ADVISE FROM CENTRE TO STATES

· The states and UT have been advised for regular critical review of the emerging situation with concerned district officials to ensure that gains made so far in COVID management are not lost.

· The Centre has also written to Maharashtra and other states which have been witnessing a rise in daily cases, along with decreasing proportion of RT-PCR tests and rise in positivity in some districts. In the letter written by the Union Health Secretary, he has exhorted Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir to focus on undertaking aggressive measures to break the chain of transmission and to ensure that RT-PCR testing is amplified to flush out hitherto undetected cases from the population.

· These states and UT have been advised to increase testing in a focussed manner in the affected districts with the appropriate split of RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen Tests.

· The Centre has reminded the states and UTs that any laxity in implementing stringent measures to curb the spread, especially in view of new strains of virus observed in certain countries, could compound the situation.

· The Union Health Secretary has separately requested the Chief Secretaries of these 10 states and UTs to provide time to these High Level Central teams to debrief the respective Chief Secretaries at the conclusion of their state visits.

(With inputs from IANS)