In highest-ever spike, UP records 18,021 Covid-19 cases, 85 deaths
LUCKNOW: In its biggest-ever single-day spike so far, Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday reported of 18,021 fresh Covid cases and 85 deaths due to the virus, taking the overall fatality count to 9,309. The active case count of the state rose to 95,980 while the infection count stood at 7,23,582, as per the health department.
After 2,182 active cases on February 25, the state added 93,978 more cases to the tally within 47 days. During the first wave of the pandemic, the maximum surge in active cases was 68,325 on September 17 last year.
Along with urban hubs, districts with large rural population were also witnessing surge in Covid cases, including Ballia, Ghazipur, Azamgarh, Sonbhadra, Banda, Lalitpur, Mirzapur, Jaunpur, Rae Bareli and Pratapgarh. All districts reported more than 100 fresh cases on Tuesday. Only two districts, Kasganj and Hathras, saw fresh cases in single digit – 8 and 5 respectively.
Four districts – Lucknow, Prayagraj, Kanpur and Varanasi – were carrying the major load of the Covid cases. The district administrations of these districts were directed to take effective measures to break the chain of Covid infection, said a health department officer.
“Of the total active cases in UP, 49,163 are in home isolation, 1,446 are admitted to private hospitals while the remaining 45,371 are in level two and three Covid facilities run by the state government,” said Amit Mohan Prasad, additional chief secretary, medical health and family welfare, in a press conference on Tuesday.
During the day, Lucknow reported 5,382 fresh Covid cases, followed by Prayagraj 1,856, Kanpur 1,271, Varanasi 1,404, Ghaziabad 199, Gautam Buddh Nagar 229, Meerut 321, Gorakhpur 602, Bareilly 271, Jhansi 503, Agra 234 and Moradabad 155.
Lucknow saw 18 deaths, Prayagraj 8, Kanpur 10, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Sambhal and Rae Bareli 4 each, Varanasi and Pratapgarh 3 each, two each in Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Agra, Barabanki, Rampur, Gonda and Amethi and one each in Meerut, Jhansi, Saharanpur, Ballia, Ayodhya, Mathura, Shahjhanpur, Hardoi, Chandauli, Sonbhadra, Unnao, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, Chitrakoot, Bhadohi and Sant Kabir Nagar.
UP had tested 3,71,73,548 Covid samples till now, including 2,18,965 in the past 24 hours. “People should take utmost precaution to break the chain of infection. Whether they
are vaccinated or not, following Covid protocol is necessary” said Prasad.
Additional chief secretary, information and MSME, Navneet Sehgal said medical colleges were directed to utilise services of fourth and fifth year MBBS students in Covid hospitals while officials were directed to use 50% of the ambulances in all districts for transportation of Covid patients. The DMs were also asked to acquire private ambulances operating in respective districts, he added.
The government expedited surveillance, sanitisation and sample testing work across UP while the urban development department, fire brigade and local bodies were directed to carry out sanitization work to check the spread of Covid, said Sehgal Health workers surveyed 15.58 crore people in various districts since the start of the Covid pandemic last year, he added.