India, Feb. 23 -- At least five states apart from Kerala and Maharashtra are seeing a sudden rise in the number of fresh Covid-19 cases, triggering fresh fears of a second wave of Covid-19 in the country. Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab witnessed a surge in cases prompting authorities to step up efforts to increase testing and speed up the vaccination process of healthcare workers.

At least 30 districts in Madhya Pradesh recorded Covid-19 cases out of 52, as the state recorded 294 Covid-19 cases, taking the total number of cases to 259,721. The state has recorded more than 290 cases for two days in a row.

Chhattisgarh also recorded more than 274 cases on Monday taking the tally past 311,000. Raipur,...