UP sees 32,933 cases, 265 deaths

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh recorded 32,993 fresh Covid-19 infection cases and 265 more deaths, the highest single-day fatality count, across the state in the last 24 hours, according to official data released on Tuesday.

The state became the first one in the country on Tuesday to test over four crore samples since the start of the pandemic, said additional chief secretary (medical health and family welfare) Amit Mohan Prasad. On Monday 1,84,144 samples were tested in the state, of which 94,000 were RT-PCR tests, he added.

There were 3,06, 458 active Covid cases in the state now, including 2,52,598 patients in home isolation, said Prasad.

In the last 24 hours, 30,398 Covid patients recovered, taking the total recovery tally to 8,34,961 since the start of the pandemic in March last year.

The total count of coronavirus infection cases in the state now stands at 11,41,419 and the death toll has touched 11,678 since March last year.

The state government will clear the medical bills of poor patients admitted in the private hospitals under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

A patient can lodge a complaint with the district magistrate or the chief medical officer’s control room if the hospitals charge more money than the rate fixed by the government, he said.

The state government has decided to increase the sample testing capacity to 2.25 lakh samples per day.

Among the fresh cases, Lucknow reported 4,437, Kanpur 2,320, Varanasi 1,752, Prayagraj 1,521, Bareilly 1,427, Meerut 1,291, Ghaziabad 1,068, Gautam Buddha Nagar 971, Ghazipur 954, Gorakhpur 852, Jhansi 772, Lakhimpur Kheri 745, Moradabad 622, Mathura 521, Agra 438 and Ballia 397 Besides, Lucknow recorded 39 deaths, Prayagraj 13, Kanpur and Ghaziabad 15 each, Varanasi 13, Gautam Buddha Nagar 12, Kushinagar 9, Jhansi 8, Ballia and Gonda 6 each, Basti, Kasganj and Banda five each. Four deaths each were reported from Moradabad, Agra, Jaunpur, Shahj-ahanpur, Unnao, Sitapur, Hapur, Amethi, Etah and Balrampur.