India on Friday reported 13,193 cases, its biggest jump in new coronavirus infections in three weeks. On the other hand in Mumbai, which is battling a recent spurt, several marshals went out to enforce mask wearing across the city.

The tally of confirmed infections is 10.96 million, the second-highest after the United States, with more than 156,000 deaths. But according to a government serological survey showed the actual infections could range as high as 300 million.

75 per cent of new cases have been reported from Kerala and Maharashtra - the two states already had the highest number of reported infections.

According to health experts, the key factors for the recent surge can be due to the re-opening of educational institutes in Kerala and resumption of suburban train services in Mumbai.

Mumbai, after a gap of 11 months, resumed full suburban train services on February 1, which carried a daily average of 8 million people before the pandemic.

The city has begun hiring marshals to enforce mask wearing. City authorities said out of nearly 5,000 marshals around 300 would be deployed on the rail network.

The heath ministry tweeted: “Coronavirus ... has not yet left the country… We still need to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour. No carelessness till there is a cure.”

As reported by Reuters, despite the recent rise in infections, India’s daily tally of new cases remains well below a mid-September peak of nearly 100,000. Testing numbers have also fallen to about 800,000 a day from more than 1 million. Since starting its vaccine campaign in mid-January, India has administered nearly 10 million doses, aiming to cover 300 million people by August.