A year after the COVID-19 outbreak and two months, which recorded a sharp decline in cases across the country, the pandemic is rearing its head again.

Initially, it appeared that the infection was only picking up in Maharashtra and Punjab, which accounted for a large majority of COVID-19 cases. However, according to data, eight states account for a majority of daily COVID-19 cases, close to 85 per cent, indicating a strong resurgence of the second wave of infections in India.

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the country is witnessing a resurgence in infections in March, after two months when the infections plummeted across the country.

The data shows that the country has seen more than 1,00,000 infections in the second week of March, which suggests that the second wave of infections is threatening to engulf the country almost a year after India announced its first lockdown in the backdrop of rising cases in March 2020.

On Tuesday, India detected 28,903 COVID-19 cases, of which 17,864 cases were from Maharashtra.

This is the biggest spike in daily COVID-19 cases this year.

The surge in new infections has pushed India's tally behind the US and Brazil. At least 188 deaths were reported on Tuesday, with Maharashtra reporting 87 casualties and Punjab reporting 38 causalities.

More than 1.14 crore (11.4 million) people have been found infected so far in the country. According to the health ministry data, Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, where daily COVID-19 cases continue to rise, account for more than 78 per cent of the new infections. The rising trajectory of daily new cases is visible in eight states: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana.

Since March 11, India has been recording over 20,000 daily increase in cases.

(IANS)