Yogi raises the bar, aims for 1.5 lakh daily tests

Death rate in UP low vis-à-vis rest of country, world; bring it down further

LUCKNOW Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said the total number of Covid-19 tests should be increased to 1.5 lakh tests per day in Uttar Pradesh and expressed satisfaction over the state currently conducting 1.46 lakh tests per day.

Testing played an important role in checking the spread of Covid-19 and should be increased consistently, he observed while reviewing the Unlock-3 situation at a high level meeting at his official residence here on Wednesday.

His directives came on a day on which Uttar Pradesh’s Covid-19 tally crossed the two lakhmark as the steepest single-day spike of 5,898 fresh Covid-19 infection cases and 82 deaths was reported across the state in the last 24 hours.

According to official data, Lucknow reported the highest 759 new cases in the last 24 hours, including UP panchayati raj minister Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and Mohanlalganj MP Kaushal Kishore. The Covid-19 disease claimed the lives of two ministers earlier this month — technical education minister Kamal Rani Varun on August 2 and former international cricketer and home guards minister Chetan Chauhan on August 16.

For his part, the chief minister said research on the pandemic was needed. The case history of cured patients should be thor

oughly studied to work out a strategy for treatment of Covid-19 patients in future, he added.

Yogi said the state government’s strategy had been able to keep the death rate due to Covid-19 very low in Uttar Pradesh in comparison to the death rate in the rest of the country and the world. The death rate should be brought down further to the minimum level in Uttar Pradesh, he said to officials at the meeting.

He also said all the district magistrates and chief medical officers should work to increase surveillance, contact tracing, door-to-door survey and medical testing. Integrated command and control centres should remain in regular communication with patients in home isolation to know about their health.

Attention should also be paid to the treatment of Covid-19 patients in hospital and all the medical facilities should be provided to them, he said. The chief minister said people should be made aware of measures for protection against Covid-19. Radio/ TV, posters and banners should be used to spread awareness, he said.

‘HONOUR MERITORIOUS STUDENTS IN LINE WITH COVID PROTOCOL’

Chief minister Yogi Adityanth said programmes should be organised to honour meritorious students of the 2020 high school and intermediate exams in accordance with directives of the state health department.

He also said social distancing norms and directives of the state health department should be completely followed in running industrial units in the state.