Minister, IPS officer, LU official among 224 new cases in Lucknow
LUCKNOW: The state capital on Saturday reported 224 fresh Covid-19 infection cases, the highest in Uttar Pradesh on the day, according to official data.
Those who tested positive here included a woman minister and a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the inspector general of police-rank.
The minister reached Civil hospital around 11am and her sample was taken. She was shifted to the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) after her sample tested positive.
During the day, a staffer at the office of the Lucknow chief medical officer tested positive after which it was closed for sanitisation. The staffer, a computer operator, had fever and he was found infected with the Covid-19 disease later. This is the third time the CMO office has been closed. The previous instances were on May 18 and on July 11.
The office of the Lucknow commissioner of police in the old forensic laboratory building in Mahanagar was closed for sanitisation after a staff member there tested positive.
The others who tested positive included a staffer with an administrative office in Mohanlalganj, a senior Lucknow University official and a doctor working in the jail.
Several teachers and staff of LU have tested positive since the first week of June. While the university remains closed for educational work, only offices for essential work remain open and they are operating with limited staff.
“People in offices are testing positive which indicates the need for a relook at social distancing inside offices. Maintaining distance is as important as wearing mask. Both should be ensured, wherever you go out of the house,” said Dr Abhishek Shukla, secretary general, Association of International Doctors.
A Red Cross staffer in Qaiserbagh, who was on thermal scanning duty, also tested positive. A medicine trader in Aminabad and a patient admitted in
KGMU’s Gandhi ward were also found infected with Covid-19.
Ten cases were reported from Gomtinagar, nine from Indiranagar, seven from Faizabad
Road, five each from Aliganj and Sarojininagar and four from Manak Nagar. In all, 139 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day.