Yogi wants UP to do 20K Covid tests per day by June-end

LUCKNOW: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday asked officials to raise Uttar Pradesh’s Covid-19 testing capacity from the current 10,000 per day to 20,000 per day by June-end. “Take the testing capacity to 15,000 tests per day by June 15 and then make it 20,000 (per day) by June-end,” the chief minister said at the Covid-19 and lockdown review meeting here on Sunday.

Addressing a joint press conference later, additional chief secretary, home, Awanish Kumar Awasthi and principal secretary, health and family welfare, Amit Mohan Prasad said the state had achieved the target of testing 10,000 samples per day. The health department would get more equipment soon to increase the average number of coronavirus tests conducted daily, the officers added.

For his part, the chief minister said UP had the highest number of Covid-19 beds—over one lakh so far--in the country.

Giving details, Awasthi and Prasad later said, “The L1, L2 and L3 hospitals have now 1,12,236 beds.” It was a matter of satisfaction that every district in the state had Level-1 and Level-2 hospitals, the chief minister said..

“Now, the L-1 hospitals have oxygen facility beds, besides general beds. The L-2 Covid hospitals have oxygen facility beds and ventilator facilities with beds. It is quite satisfying to say the state’s testing capacity in the first week of March was barely 50 per day and now we are at 10,000 tests per day,” he said. TheCM asked the officers concerned to have adequate screening facilities at railway stations as train services were being resumed from June 1.

He also asked officials to get set for the next phase of food grains distribution from Monday and maintain total transparency in the supply of food grain from godowns to ration shops.

Adityanath said a GPS system should be enabled for the transportation of food grains from godowns to ration shops.

He reiterated that homeless people should be given finance assistance.