Daily Covid testing crosses 10K mark

LUCKNOW: The number of samples tested each day for the coronavirus has crossed the 10,000-mark in state.

Principal secretary, medical health and family welfare, Amit Mohan Prasad on Thursday said 10,563 samples were tested in laboratories across the state on Wednesday.

The health department has now set a target of 15,000 sample tests daily by June 15 and 20,000 by the month-end, Prasad said at a press conference. The state health department has received 20 True-Net machines to test samples and these have been installed in 20 districts. Another 21 Tru-Net machines were transported to the state on Monday and the next batch of 34 machines will be brought on June 9. By the end of the week, all 75 districts will have machines for testing samples.

He said 5,430 samples were tested through pool tests in various laboratories.

The increase in sample tests, especially after the arrival of migrant workers, had helped the health department in identifying people infected with coronavirus, he said.

While the infected patients were admitted in isolation wards of hospitals, their contacts were admitted to quarantine facilities, he said. The state health department tested samples of 80,960 migrant workers since they started arriving in UP in April, the principal secretary said. As many as 2,583 migrants were found positive for the Sars-CoV-2 infection, he said, adding that the sample data indicated that 28% of the migrants were infected.

At present, 3,579 patients are admitted in isolation wards and 7,895 in quarantine facilities. While 78 patients were on oxygen support, six were on ventilator support, he said.

Prasad said Asha workers screened 12.39 migrant workers in home quarantine. He added that 1.4 lakh teams of the health department surveyed 80.98 lakh houses and 4.11 crore people staying in 1,290 containment zones in various districts.