NEW DELHI: India saw a big spike in Covid-19 infections with 57 new cases being reported by state authorities and 50 by the health ministry on Friday — by far the highest in a single day — as several parts of the country began to feel the impact of the outbreak.Curfew was clamped in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara town, several localities in Madhya Pradesh and Kerala put under lockdown and prohibitary orders extended to more areas.So far, 255 cases have been reported in the country, around 44% of which (111) have come in the last three days. The health ministry confirmed 223 cases. Madhya Pradesh became the 21st state/UT to report the coronavirus infection, with four cases surfacing in Jabalpur, prompting authorities to order a lockdown in two localities.The government acknowledged the surge, with joint secretary (health) Lav Aggarwal on Friday saying cases had increased “progressively“ and social distancing was, therefore, important to stop this chain of transmission. So far, the Centre had maintained that the outbreak was limited to persons with travel history and their contacts.“All states have been asked to use all legal powers, be it the Epidemic Diseases Act, Disaster Management Act, CrPc or IPC to implement this (social distancing),” Aggarwal said.Kerala and Delhi reported 12 and 6 cases, respectively, on Friday, the highest in a single day. Restrictions were imposed in Kasargod town of Kerala, where six new cases were reported.In Rajasthan’s Bhilwara town, reported eight cases of Covid-19 of which six were among doctors and nurses. Local authorities said they have not been able to identify the source or any possible contact with an infected person yet.“Curfew has been imposed in Bhilwara. The situation is alarming as 500 people who were in contact with the three infected doctors and three nursing staff have been kept in isolation.”Section 144 has also been imposed in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot in Gujarat in view of the increasing number of Covid-19 cases. The state reported seven new cases on Friday.With the number of cases rising, the health ministry has issued a fresh advisory stating that no suspected Covid-19 patient should be turned away from any hospital. “Similarly, all pneumonia patients must also be notified to the National Centre for Disease Control so they could be tested for Covid-19,” the advisory said.This is a significant change in testing policy for Covid-19 and signals that community transmission has started or is about to start because so far the government insisted testing was only required for persons with travel history or their contacts if they showed symptoms of the viral infection.Also, the government extended the universal screening of passengers to passengers coming from Australia, the UK and the US for risk-profiling them for either quarantine or isolation citing increased number of cases and deaths in these countries. The number of Covid-19 deaths in India remains four, as the government said the death of a 69-year-old Italian tourist, Andri Carly, in Jaipur could not be considered a Covid-19 death because he had recovered from the infection.“He was a chain-smoker and had other co-morbidities for which he was undergoing treatment. Unfortunately, he suffered cardiac arrest and died,” Aggarwal said.Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi deliberated on ways to check the spread of coronavirus with chief ministers of various states on Friday. Health minister Harsh Vardhan and top health ministry officials were present in the meeting held via video link. Besides discussing ways to check the spread of the virus, issues such as capacity building of states and extending training to local health officials also came for discussion.