Special teams to probe increase in Covid cases in Sultanpur, Sitapur
On July I, merely two cases were reported in the district, taking the total number of active cases to 17. With the increase in (fresh) cases (later), the active Covid cases in the district increased to 47 DR DK TRIPATHI, CMO, Sultanpur
LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh health department sent special teams to Sultanpur and Sitapur on Monday to investigate the sudden increase in Covid-19 cases in both the districts.
Twenty fresh cases were reported in Sultanpur within 24 hours on Sunday while 28 fresh cases were reported in Sitapur district within 24 hours on Monday. Except Lucknow (14 fresh cases), Covid-19 cases were reported in single digits in the remaining 72 districts of Uttar Pradesh, according to official data.
Expressing concern over a surge in Covid cases in Sultanpur and Sitapur, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday directed the state health department to dispatch the special teams to both the districts to study the reasons for the increase in the Covid cases, as well as the containment measures to be implemented there.
He told the officers concerned to launch contact tracing and sample testing of the family members of the infected people, adding that those who came in contact with the Covid-19 positive people should be traced and their samples should be sent for tests.
The district administration should make adequate arrangements for the treatment of Covid-19 positive people, he said.
Additional chief secretary (health and family welfare) Amit Mohan Prasad said special teams consisting of doctors, experts and surveillance officers were sent to both the districts. The teams will visit the areas where the fresh Covid cases have been reported, review the measures taken by the district administration to check the spread of the cases, look into the health facilities provided to Covid-positive people, and study the reasons for the increase in the cases. Even as the Covid cases continued to decline, the state health department had increased the sample testing to identify the infected people immediately, he said.
Sultanpur’s chief medical officer (CMO) Dr DK Tripathi said, “On July I, merely two cases were reported in the dis
trict, taking the total number of active cases to 17. With the increase in (fresh) cases (later), the active Covid cases in the district increased to 47.”
Twenty fresh cases have been reported in seven villages of Sultanpur. In Babhangawa village alone, eight members of a family tested positive.
The family members told the district administration that three members of the family returned from Mumbai four days back and they were ill. As the other family members also complained of fever, samples were sent for tests and eight of them returned Covid-19 positive, he said.
The surveillance teams were activated in the areas and villagers asked to alert the district administration if any person visited the village from another state as well as about the people having Covid symptoms, the Sultanpur CMO said.
Sitapur CMO Dr Madhu Gerola said fresh Covid cases were detected in villages in the Tambour and Pisawa areas of the district.
The district health department has launched a door-todoor survey to trace the infected people in all the villages.
The infected people were staying in home isolation or admitted in health facilities. The violation of Covid protocols by the people was one of the major reasons for the increase in Covid cases in the district, the Sitapur CMO said.
The total number of Covid-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh increased to 17,07,446 on Monday as 96 more people tested positive while the death toll climbed to 22,700 with two more fatalities.
The latest deaths were reported from Prayagraj and Azamgarh, an official statement said.
As many as 112 more Covid-19 patients were discharged after recovering from the disease the previous day, taking the total number of recoveries so far to 16,83,170, the statement said.