New Delhi, Apr 14 (IANS): Alarmed by the recent spurt in the number of Covid-19 cases, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress General Secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, has called a meeting of UP leaders and party MLAs to discuss the situation.

The meeting will be held virtually, during which the UP Congress will derive a strategy to help the people in these tough times.

The meeting comes in the wake of a state minister writing a letter to the Additional Chief Secretary, expressing his anguish over the stressed-out health facilities in the state.

Uttar Pradesh reported 13,604 new cases in the last 24 hours, while the number of active cases in the state stood at 81,576.

India reported 1,61,736 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, setting another grim single-day record as the overall tally reached 1,36,89,453. With this, India has once again emerged as the second-worst hit nation in terms of infections after the US.

The five states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala cumulatively account for 68.85 percent of India's total active Cases. Maharashtra alone accounts for 44.78 percent of the total active caseload in the country, the government said on Tuesday.