50% of Covid cases in Uttar Pradesh from rural areas: ACS

LUCKNOW : About 50% of the fresh Covid cases in UP were coming from rural pockets while people who had their second dose of vaccine were reported to have very low level of infection, may be below 1%, said Amit Mohan Prasad, additional chief secretary, medical health, at a press conference on Thursday.

“Do not accept any myth that infection is reported only in urban areas. Of the total cases, 50% are from rural areas. Last time, this ratio was threefourth and one-fourth among urban and rural areas,” said Prasad.

“This time, contacts of a positive case are getting infected faster and in large numbers. But in case of those vaccinated, fewer of their contacts are getting infected. Hence vaccination is necessary for all whether in rural or urban areas,” he said.

“Those infected after second dose did not have serious illness,” he added.

Stressing on complete vaccination, Prasad said gram nigrani samitis in rural pockets were being activated to keep a check on the spread of infection.

“Do not skip the second dose as the first dose does not give the expected protection. Do make use of the vaccination facility being provided for all people above the age of 45 years,” said Prasad.

LUCKNOW : Uttar Pradesh reported 2,600 new Covid -19 cases and nine fatalities on Thursday, pushing the state’s infection tally to 6,19,783 and the death toll to 8,820.

The number of active cases in the state had gone up to 11,918, additional chief secretary, heath, Amit Mohan Prasad said, adding that 6,722 patients were in home-isolation, 287 in private hospitals and the rest in government facilities.

A total of 5,99,045 people had so far recovered from the infection and been discharged from hospitals in the state, he said.

So far over 3.49 crore samples had been tested in the state, including over 1.24 lakh on Wednesday, Prasad said.

He said vaccination of people above 45 years of age began in the state on Thursday, and the inoculation drive was going on in over 5,000 centres.

Prasad asked people above 45 to get themselves registered through the dedicated portal for vaccination, and said those who did not have the facility could directly approach the inoculation centres.

Stressing on the importance of vaccination, he said over 11 lakh people had so far taken their second doses and almost 99.5 per cent of them had been found to be safe.

Prasad said almost half of the new infections were being reported from rural areas at present and stressed on activating the ‘gram nigrani samitis’ and ‘mohalla nigrani samitis’ to control the spread of the virus.

DEEPAK GUPTA/HT PHOTO The district administration on Thursday sealed a mall in Gomti Nagar and a bar near Shaheed Path for flouting Covid protocols and directed them to submit an explanation within two days. These establishments will remain closed till further orders, said officials. Action was initiated in the morning, when a team of officials found that no Covid safety measures were in place at Fun Mall. “No one was maintaining register to keep a record of visitors. There were no restrictions on the entry of people not wearing masks,” said an official. The team also found that there were no proper arrangements for Covid help desk, which is a mandate as per Covid-19 protocols. The team also sealed ‘My Bar’ at the Summit Building near Shaheed Path. Abhishek Prakash, district magistrate said both the establishments were sealed for violating Covid-19 protocols. He said a similar drive would continue to ensure strict implementation of Covid protocols.