UP crosses 1.50 cr Covid tests mark

26 deaths, 1,989 fresh cases in UP; Lucknow reports eight fatalities, none in Kanpur and Kashi

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh on Sunday achieved the landmark of having conducted 1.50 crore sample tests for detecting coronavirus disease. The state had so far tested 15015118 samples, including 1,51,730 in the past 24 hours, according to the health department.

The state had reached the count of one crore on September

30. On an average every day, 1.50 lakh samples were being tested in UP. These included 50,00060,000 RT PCR tests, said officials. The state had reached the 50 lakh mark on August 27. Till May 22, two lakh samples had been tested in the state while the count reached five lakh on June

16. UP reached the 10 lakh mark on July 6, 15 lakh on July 18, 20 lakh on July 28, 30 lakh mark on August 9 and 40 lakh on August 19, said Amit Mohan Prasad, additional chief secretary, health and family welfare.

In the first five months of the pandemic (March to June), six lakh samples were tested whereas from June-end to August-end, the state tested 44 lakh samples. By October 1, UP conducted 10263709 tests and on October 30 the tally reached 14717483, which means 4453774 tests in October.

Along with government labs in the state, private labs were given permission to conduct Covid tests while a few CSIR labs were also testing samples. The focus was on RT PCR tests.

Meanwhile, 26 more people succumbed to Covid-19 in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday as 1,989 fresh cases surfaced, taking the state’s infection tally to 4,83,832, as per the state health department.

So far, 7,051 fatalities due to the virus had been reported in the state. Of the 26 deaths during the day, Lucknow reported the maximum – eight and Meerut logged one. Kanpur, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar and Gorakhpur reported zero deaths.

Lucknow also saw the maximum fresh Covid cases – 253, Kanpur 72, Prayagraj 76, Gorakhpur 57, Ghaziabad 156, Gautam Buddh Nagar 173, Meerut 121, Agra 53 and Varanasi 76 cases.

The overall case positivity rate in Lucknow was around d7.8%. During the day, samples of 9,404 people were taken for Covid testing under the contact- tracing exercise. With active cases coming down to 3,151, over 2,000 level one beds at Covid facilities in the state capital were now vacant.

“Lucknow has reported 63,515 Covid cases. These include 59,478 discharged patients, 886 deaths and 3,151 active cases under treatment. The recovery rate of Lucknow has improved to 93.64% from 86.62% on October 1,” said Dr Abhishek Shukla, secretary general, Association of International Doctors.

Fresh cases were reported from Indira Nagar 16, Aliganj 10, Alambagh 15, Gomti Nagar 26, Rae Bareli road 21, Madiaon 17, Chinhat 11, Vikas Nagar 11, Hazratganj 20 and Vrindavan Yojna 12. Till now, 47,141 patients had opted for home isolation in Lucknow.