With over 1 lakh active cases, Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh is currently the worst affected state after Maharashtra

Chhattisgarh recorded 15,000+ cases on April 13 (Representational Image: ET Healthworld)

India is facing the second wave of Covid-19, and Maharashtra is leading the charts in terms of new cases. On April 13, out of 1,85,294 cases recorded across India, Maharashtra had contributed 60,212 new cases. Another runner in the race who is pacing up quickly is Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh. The state recorded 15,121 new cases on Tuesday, and currently, there are over one lakh active cases in the state.

Chhattisgarh’s performance in last one month

On March 14, the state was doing well and recorded only 475 new cases. However, within a few days, the situation started to get worse when the state suddenly recorded over 1,000 cases on March 18. From there, Chhattisgarh continuously saw a spike in the number. By March 24, the state was recording 2,000+ cases, and by March 27, it crossed the 3,000+ cases mark per day.

Chhattisgarh’s performance through March (Source: Covid19india.org)

On April 4, Chhattisgarh crossed the alarming number of 5,000 cases per day, and by April 7, that is, within just three days, it had crossed the 10,000 mark. Since that day, the state is recording 10,000+ cases, and yesterday it reached a new high with over 15,000 cases in a single day.

Chhattisgarh’s performance in April till date (Source: Covid19india.org)

The death rate is alarming in the state

While the nation’s death rate on April 13 was 0.55%, Chhattisgarh’s death rate was almost double at 1.03%. Comparing it with Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in terms of population, the death rate on the same day was 0.4%, which is below the national average. While Chhattisgarh saw 1,058 deaths in the last seven days, Uttar Pradesh lost 375 people to a novel coronavirus infection in the same period.

Deaths due to Covid-19 in India, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh (Source: Covid19india.org)

Chhattisgarh CM was busy campaigning in Assam

While the state was going through a tough time, the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel was busy campaigning for Congress candidates in Assam for ongoing Assembly elections. He was missing from the state during the brutal attack by Naxals on CRPF officers during an encounter and had continued with his election rallies hours after the news broke in media.

Anurag: B.Sc. Multimedia, a journalist by profession.