The rise in Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra continued unabated on Wednesday with the state reporting 8,807 new infections, taking its total count to 21,21,119, the health department said.

With 80 new fatalities being reported during the day, the state's death toll rose to 51,937, it added.

The increase in cases was steep considering that on Tuesday, the state had reported 6,218 new Covid-19 cases.

Of 80 deaths, 27 took place in the past 48 hours, while 22 were from the last week. The remaining 31 deaths were from the period before that, officials said.

As many as 2,772 patients were discharged from hospitals on Wednesday, taking the total of recoveries to 20,08,623.

On the other hand, Kerala logged 4,106 new cases of Covid-19 and 17 deaths on Wednesday, taking the caseload to 10,45,358 and toll to 4,136.

State Health Minister K K Shailaja said the state tested 70,568 samples in the last 24 hours and the test positivity rate was 5.82 per cent.

She said 5,885 people recuperated from the disease, taking the total recoveries in the state to 9,87,720.

There are now 52,869 people under treatment in the state, the minister said in a release.

According to the release, 2,28,416 people are under observation out of which 8,006 are in isolation wards of various hospitals.

The state has tested 1,12,08,411 samples so far.

She said out of the total number of people testing positive for the virus today, 107 had reached the state from outside while 3,174 contracted the disease through their contact.

Three people, who returned from the UK, tested positive in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of virus-affected UK returnees to 91.

"The sources of infection of 262 are yet to be traced while 23 health workers are also among the infected," the minister said.

Among the districts, Pathanamthittareported the highest number of cases--469, followed by Kozhikode with 465 and Enakulam 446.

No new hotspot was added today and five regions were removed from the list, taking its total number to 369.

Jammu and Kashmir records new cases

Jammu and Kashmir recorded 74 fresh Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the infection tally to 1,26,093, even as no fresh death due to the virus was reported in the past 24 hours, officials said.

Out of the fresh cases, 20 were from the Jammu division and 54 from the Kashmir division of the Union Territory, they said.

The officials said Srinagar district recorded the highest of 19 cases followed by 14 in Baramulla district and 11 in Udhampur district.

While eight districts did not report any fresh case, nine districts had cases in single digits.

The number of active has risen to 771 in the Union Territory, while 1,23,367 patients have recovered so far, the officials said.

The death toll in the UT due to the disease is 1,955 as no fresh death was reported from Jammu and Kashmir in the past 24 hours, they added.

Teams in states with rising cases

The Centre has deputed multi-disciplinary teams to states witnessing a surge in Covid -19 cases, including Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka and Jammu and Kashmir, to support them in effectively tackling the pandemic.

The three-member multidisciplinary teams are headed by joint secretary-level officers in the health ministry, the Union Health Ministry said.

"These teams will work closely with the states and UT administration and ascertain reasons for the 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 ministry said.

The central teams have been deputed to Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir.

The states and UT have been advised for regular critical review of the emerging situation with district officials concerned to ensure that gains made so far in Covid-19 management are not lost, the ministry stated.

The Centre has also written to Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir which have been witnessing a rise in daily Covid cases, along with decreasing proportion of RT-PCR tests and rise in positivity in some districts.

In the letter, the Union Health Secretary has exhorted Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and 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 UTs 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 and to also ensure that all symptomatic negatives of antigen tests are compulsorily tested via RT-PCR tests, the ministry said.

The positive persons must be promptly isolated/hospitalised, all their close contacts be traced and also tested without delay.

The Centre has reminded the states and UTs that any laxity in implementing stringent measures to curb the spread, especially in view of new strain 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.

These measures are in line with the Government of India's graded and proactive approach to contain Covid across the country.

The health ministry has been regularly engaging with states and UTs that have been exhibiting either a sudden surge in Covid-19 cases, high caseload or reporting higher mortality in some districts, the ministry said.

The teams interact with field authorities to get a first-hand understanding of the challenges and issues being faced by them, it said.