The Centre on Thursday cautioned Delhi and its neighbouring areas after a surge in coronavirus cases was reported in the national Capital, Gurugram and Noida, reported the Hindustan Times.

“Would like to caution Delhi-NCR [National Capital Range], Gurugram, part of Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad too to some extent,” NITI Aayog member VK Paul said. “These areas are seeing a slight rise in the number of cases.”

Paul warned that the coronavirus pandemic was not over yet. “We are in a position to give a strong fight against the virus as we have vaccines now,” he added. “Nobody should take the virus for granted. Nobody should lower their guard.”

Delhi on Thursday reported 409 new coronavirus cases – the highest in more than two months – pushing the tally to 6,42,439. The city had registered 424 new infections on January 3. The toll climbed by three to 10,934.

The number of active coronavirus cases climbed to 2,020 from 1,900, while the positivity rate rose to 0.59% from 0.52%, reported PTI. With 286 discharges, the total recoveries stood at 6,29,485.

During the early days of February, the cases had remained between 100 and 200. On February 16, only 94 Covid-19 cases – the lowest in more than nine months – were reported in the national Capital. There were no deaths registered on February 9, 13, 17 and 25.

However, Delhi started reporting over 300 cases in March. There were 321 cases registered on March 6 and 312 on March 5. The figure remained below the 300-mark on Sunday and Monday but climbed to 320 on Tuesday.

In neighbouring Noida, the average daily cases are between 10 and 15, while it is between 60 to 80 in Gurugram. There are 85 active cases in Noida as of Wednesday, according to PTI. Guguram has 471 active infections, according to the Hindustan Times.