Covid-19 cases are once again on the rise in State after State. The worst-affected State continues to be Maharashtra. In the last 24 hours (as of Wednesday morning), nearly 29,000 new cases were registered in the country. Of these, just five States accounted for about 71% of the cases.

The Union Health Ministry today said that Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu collectively account for 71.10% of the 28,903 new casts.

Cumulative data says that Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab account for 76.4% of total active cases in the county.

Maharashtra, which has come in for night curfews and increased restrictions on social gatherings, has contributed nearly 60% to the total active caseload in the country.

Meanwhile, experts are saying that vaccination must be made mandatory, given that a good chunk of people are hesitant to get themselves vaccinated.