The Centre has asked Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu to step up measures to contain the spread COVID-19 as the five states are recording the highest number of cases in the country.

of closely monitor emerging clusters of COVID-19 cases and step up testing for early detection to contain spread of the disease.

"There are a few states which are reporting a higher contribution to India's cases indicating the possibility of a localised spread of infection. There is, therefore, a need to follow a risk assessment based approach on the public health responses without losing the gains made so far in the fight against the pandemic," Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has stated in his letter to these five states.

The letter states that in the past one week, a slight upsurge in cases is being noticed as 15,708 cases were reported in the week ending 27th May which has gone up to 21,055 cases till June 3. There is also a rise in weekly positivity from 0.52 per cent to 0.73 per cent during the week.

The states have been advised to follow a five-fold strategy i.e test – track – treat – vaccination and should also follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour, monitoring clusters of new COVID-19 cases and adequate testing as per guidelines.

The letter also points out that a sustained and significant decline in the number of Covid-19 cases has been observed in India over the past three months.

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