New Delhi, February 24: The Centre on Tuesday asked the states to expedite the coronavirus vaccination drive. It has also dispatched teams to places where the cases of the disease are rising. On Wednesday, India reported 13,742 new COVID-19 cases, and 104 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry website.

The increase in coronavirus cases has been fuelled in particular by Maharashtra, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, where cases have grown by 127 percent, 55 percent and 54 percent respectively. Delhi Makes Negative COVID-19 Report Mandatory For Travellers From These 5 States Between February 26 to March 15.

The Delhi government on Wednesday made it mandatory for people coming from five states to have a negative coronavirus test report. As reported by news agency ANI, travellers from Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab will have to show a negative COVID-19 test report to enter Delhi from Saturday.

Giving details about the number of people infected with the UK strain, Dr VK Paul, Member (Health) informed that as many as 187 individuals have been detected with UK strain till date, six people with South African strain and one with Brazilian strain. Till February 23, the total COVID-19 vaccination stands at 1,17,64,788

The Director, PGIMER Chandigarh said that the new coronavirus strain that has been detected in India and UK is highly transmissible. He said, "We should take all possible precautions to prevent the rise in cases. Currently, we have 55 COVID19 cases at the hospital. The cases have gone up in the last 2 weeks." India began its vaccination campaign on January 16 at a time when the epidemic was receding in the country. However, the cases have again shot up.

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 24, 2021 11:31 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).