Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab and three other states account for 85.95% of the cases reported in 24 hours, the union ministry of health and family welfare said on Wednesday. India reported 14,989 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, according to the health bulletin.

Maharashtra continued to report the highest daily new cases at 7,863. Kerala recorded 2,938 fresh cases on Wednesday while Punjab reported 729 new cases.

"Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Karnataka have shown the maximum increase in new cases on a week on a week basis," the ministry said. Maharashtra alone accounted for a weekly increase of 16,012 cases.

The central government is in touch with the states and union territories reporting higher caseload of active cases and those reporting a spike in the daily new COVID-19 cases, the ministry underlined.

States and UTs have been advised to maintain a continued rigorous vigil for containing the spread of COVID-19 so that the gains of collective efforts are not squandered away, the ministry said.

The need for effective testing, comprehensive tracking, prompt isolation of positive cases and quick quarantine of close contacts are strongly emphasised.

The central government has also rushed high-level teams to Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Jammu and Kashmir to support them in their fight against the recent spike in COVID-19 cases. The three-member teams are headed by joint secretary-level officers in the Health Ministry.

They will ascertain the reasons for the surge and coordinate with the state health departments in COVID-19 control and containment measures.

India`s total active caseload has reached 1,70,126 on Wednesday. India`s present active caseload now stands at 1.53 per cent of the total positive cases.

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