Fresh cases: Lucknow, Prayagraj and Varanasi a concern for state govt
18 more fatalities and 1,021 fresh Covid cases in the state; recovery rate 96%
LUCKNOW : Even as Covid cases were on the decline in Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, Prayagraj and Varanasi remained a concern for the state government with more fresh cases surfacing in these districts in comparison to the others in the state.
In the last 24 hours, Lucknow logged 194 fresh cases, Prayagraj 60 and Varanasi 45, said health department officials.
District and health officers of the three districts were directed to take the required measures to check the spread of Covid.
With the fall in the Covid tally, there was a reduction in the number of containment zones and hotspots in the state, said Sanjay Prasad, principal secretary to the chief minister.
A meeting with officials of Lucknow district administration was held on Monday to discuss measures required to check the spread of the coronavirus infection, said Alok Kumar, principal secretary, health and family welfare.
District and health department officers were directed to focus on three measures – motivate people to cover their face with mask while moving in public places, ensure that asymptomatic people who are in home isolation follow guidelines issued by the administration and do not move in public places and launch intensive contact-tracing drive in the district, he said.
In Lucknow, 200 cases were being reported daily on an average whereas earlier around thousand cases were being reported.
This clearly indicated that the Covid curve in the district continued to remain on a plateau, added Kumar.
During the last 24 hours, 1,021 fresh Covid cases were reported in UP whereas 1,369 patients were discharged.
Till Tuesday, a total of 5.83 lakh Covid cases had been reported in the state since the start of the pandemic in March while 5.61 lakh people had recovered, taking the recovery rate of Uttar Pradesh to 96%, he said.
According to the health department, 18 fatalities were reported in the 24 hours taking the state’s death tally due to the virus to 8,340.
Two deaths each were reported in Varanasi and Prayagraj. Lucknow, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Meerut, Gorakhpur, Saharanpur, Muzaffaranagar, Pratapgarh, Rae Bareli, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Unnao and Banda districts saw one death each.
Of the 14,384 active cases in UP, 3,336 were in home isolation.
On Monday, 1.32 lakh samples were tested, taking the sample tests tally to 2.36 crore, he added.