Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday called a meeting of officials of the state health department to discuss the situation related to Covid amid spurt in cases in some countries. The meeting will be held at the civil secretariat here, official sources said.

Earlier, Punjab Health Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra said there are nine active cases of coronavirus in the state presently. Punjab has till date recorded 20,513 deaths due to COVID-19 and a total of 7.85 lakh people were found positive for the infection out of total 2.10 crore samples taken for tests.

The sudden rise in positive cases in countries such as the US, Japan, Korea, Brazil and China has caused concern among Indian authorities.?Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has sent a circular to all states and union territories, emphasising on whole genome sequencing of positive cases to understand the new variants of the virus. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has asked people to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour, including wearing masks in crowded places, and getting vaccinated.?