Other states adopting UP model of sealing hotspots: Addl CS

LUCKNOW: Other states had started implementing the UP model of sealing hotspots to protect people from the coronavirus, additional chief secretary, Home, Awanish Kumar Awasthi said here on Saturday.

About 125 hotspots have already been sealed in 15 districts of Uttar Pradesh.

Asserting that the strategy to take strict action will pay dividends, he said Uttar Pradesh was the most populous state, but it ranked sixth in the tally of positive Covid cases in the country.

“Our strategy is to take strict action in the hotspots that have become a breeding ground of the coronavirus. The district administration officers have been directed to implement the orders strictly. Along with conducting house-to-house survey, the movement of people and vehicles has been banned,” he said.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Awasthi said the state government agencies surveyed 1.42 lakh houses and nine lakh people residing in the hotspots within three days. The hotspots were sealed from April 8-9 midnight.

The health department identified 2,942 suspected Covid-19 cases in the hotspots and 2,863 of them were quarantined, the additional chief secretary said.

The hotspots were located in 89 police station areas of the 15 districts, he said.

Another 68 positive Covid cases were detected at 55 spots in 25 other districts. The district magistrates of these districts marked the areas, in which one or more positive cases were reported, as hotspots.

The hotspot areas were barricaded and the supply of essential items was being maintained with doorstep delivery, he said. The police checked 638 vehicles in the hotspots and 80 were seized, he said.

In Meerut, a mob pelted a district administration team with stones when they were taking a few people to quarantine facilities. The city magistrate was injured and police arrested three accused. Strict action will be taken against the anti-social elements, Awasthi said.

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UP topped in downloading of Aarogya Setu app, he said, adding that 31 lakh people in the state downloaded the mobile application, the additional chief secretary said.