New Delhi, Mar 24 (IANS): The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday expressed concern over the surge of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra and Punjab.

Two states which have shown surge in cases -- Maharashtra and Punjab -- are of grave concern, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a press conference.

Pune, Nagpur, Mumbai, Thane, and Nashik are the worrisome districts in Maharashtra, while Jalandhar, SAS Nagar, Ludhiana, Patiala, and Hoshiarpur are showing massive surge in Punjab.

"Punjab is worrisome because new cases are more in comparison to the population," Bhushan said.

Coronavirus cases have been increasing drastically in India in the last two weeks. On Wednesday, India reported 47,262 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day spike since November 11, 2020, taking the total tally to 1,17,34,058.

Six states cumulatively account for 81.65 per cent of the new cases reported in the past 24 hours. Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 28,699. It is followed by Punjab with 2,254 while Karnataka reported 2,010 new cases.