Fight against Covid-19 not over, be very cautious: Govt
UP govt says fight still not over, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar districts remain on alert
GHAZIABAD: The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday warned people against complacency in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases in several states in the country. In particular, they asked people to follow precautions as they did when the virus was first detected in March last year.
Uttar Pradesh had seen a decline since the peak of 68,235 active Covid-19 cases on September 27, 2020. Gautam Budh Nagar had a peak of 2,008 active cases on September 13, 2020 and Ghaziabad had it on September 14, 2020 with 2,126 cases. On Wednesday, there were only 59 active cases in Gautam Budh Nagar and 61 active cases in Ghaziabad, while for the state as a whole was 2,190. Deaths too had declined considerably.
“People think that Covid-19 is finished (in the state) but that is wrong. People are still getting infected, and it is especially rising in four or five states. So, it is vital that precautions like what were taken up in the months of March to June last year be observed strictly as our state has large population and the population density is also high,” said UP’S additional chief secretary (health) Amit Mohan Prasad.
In March, the Union government had enforced a nationwide lockdown that lasted 68 days after which the economy opened up in phases.
“We urge that the mohalla nigrani samitis in urban areas and gram nigrani samitis in rural areas be active again so that infection is checked and does not spread,” said Prasad.
The samitis were formed to check on infected persons, their home isolation status and even to inform the health department on possible cases and violation of Covid-19 protocols.
With fewer active Covid-19 cases in Ghaziabad, the district had reduced the number of hospitals dedicated to treating the infected -- from 14 to just three.
District health department officials said that had an eye on the daily case count and, if need be, could convert private and government health care facilities into Covid facilities with five days’ notice.
“We have not witnessed any major spike in cases over the last few months but we are reviewing daily progress. The Covid cases in high case load localities like Indirapuram, Shastri Nagar and Vaishali among others have also decreased. However, we are in a position to tackle any surge and our Covid hospitals can resume Covid-related treatment within five days,” said Dr NK Gupta, CMO, Ghaziabad.
“Three hospitals were asked to reduce the Covid capacity by about 50% but they still have Covid facility running. In case need be, we have released the other hospitals on condition that they will come up with Covid treatment in five days if required. Only our acquired facility of Santosh Medical is in operation which is also serving as L2 and L3 facility with 200 beds each,” Dr Gupta, added.
The figures of the health department indicate that at least five residential segments of Bhowapur (comprising of locality like Kaushmabi), Khoda, Vijay Nagar I, Pasonda and Kaila Bhatta have no cases reported this month till February 23.
This is for the first time since last year that these localities have recorded zero cases so far. The district at present has a figure of 167 Covid cases which have arrived in first 23 days of February. The state control room figure of February 23 states that the district has total of 26733 cases which include 26569 patients discharged and 62 active cases besides 102 deaths. The sample positivity of cases saw a decline below 1% in January and also in the current month of February.
The figures also indicate that only six segments comprising of Indirapuram (34 cases), Shastri Nagar (35), Vaishali (13), Vasundhara 918), Sadik Nagar (16) and Modinagar (10) have Covid cases in double digits till February 23.
“Although there is no spike in UP at present, but people are not adhering to Covid protocols and need to take up precautions like wearing face mask, washing hands frequently and maintaining social distancing. The Covid cases emerged in March last year in Ghaziabad and peaked in subsequent months. So, all precautions must be maintained so that there is no repeat of the scenario,” said Dr Asheesh Agrawal, president of the Indian Medical Association – Ghaziabad, while adding that the health department must expedite vaccination process. The centre has deputed high level multi-disciplinary teams to states like Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Union Territory of J&K for supporting them in public health measures for targeted Covid response and management, and effectively tackling the pandemic.
WHO has praised UP, claims Adityanath
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday claimed that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has praised the state’s Covid-19 management. Speaking in the state assembly, the CM said, “Discussions over the Covid-19 situation continue to this day. Active cases in UP are around 2000, hospitals have below 500 cases, recovery rate is best in the country. Due to our constant efforts, WHO praised UP’S Covid-19 management.”
“UP is the first state to not only announce maintenance allowance for workers, street vendors and rickshaw drivers but also make it available during the emergency (Covid-19),” the CM said.