In light of the surge in COVID-19 cases, the Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday ordered that all schools and colleges will remain closed till January 23, 2022.
On January 5, the Uttar Pradesh government had ordered the closure of all government and private schools for students up to class 10 till January 16.
According to an official communiqué, stepping up preventive measures to control the spread of COVID-19, the state government has suspended physical education in all educational institutions (schools, colleges, universities, technical educational institutions etc.) till January 23. Several other states are also extending the closure of schools due to rising COVID-19 cases.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath chaired a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation. He also inspected arrangements related to COVID-19 management in King George's Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow.
Speaking to reporters, Yogi said that the state had around 1.03 lakh active cases.
"Lucknow has reported 2,300 positive cases today (Sunday), active cases stand at 16,300. Less than 1 per cent of patients are admitted in hospitals," he added.
"Vaccination drive has been so good that the third wave has not impacted us as much. UP vaccinated over 22.87 crore people, of which 21.37 lakh are children aged 15-18 years and 3.87 lakh are people above 60 years of age or those with comorbidities who have been given booster doses," Yogi said.
Meanwhile, UP has surpassed 23 crore Covid vaccine shots. This is another major landmark as the state continues to conduct one of the most successful vaccination campaigns in the country. While the countrywide vaccination drive against COVID-19 on Sunday completed one year, Uttar Pradesh became the first state to administer over 23,04,43,754 vaccine doses since the rollout of the mass immunisation campaign on January 16. The state is followed by Maharashtra with 14.31 crore doses administered so far. In terms of percentage, nearly 60 per cent of the adult population is fully vaccinated and over 93 per cent have received one dose of the Covid vaccine.
In the light of the emergence of the new variant Omicron of the novel coronavirus, the government has expedited its vaccination coverage in the state. According to the latest figures on CoWIN, Uttar Pradesh has administered more than 14,33,14,725 first doses of the vaccine so far. In terms of second doses, Uttar Pradesh has administered over 8.67 crore second doses. The vaccination for children aged 15-18 also kicked off in the state with a major turnout on January 3. Over 5,137,027 teens have been administered vaccine doses so far.
Strengthening its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Uttar Pradesh has also administered over 4.05 lakh ‘precaution doses’ to healthcare, frontline workers and those above 60 years within a span of nearly six days. To speed up the vaccination drive for children in the state, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also asked the officials concerned to ensure adequate availability of vaccine doses and has set a target of providing at least a single dose of the vaccine to the teenagers within a time-bound manner.
Keeping in mind the new variant of the novel coronavirus, the state government is committed to providing vaccine shields to the people of the state at the earliest. In wake of the emerging situation, work is being undertaken under a special strategy to expedite the vaccination campaign in rural areas by the cluster approach and the ‘har ghar dastak’ strategy. Now, in the ongoing door-to-door awareness campaign in the villages, healthcare teams including ASHA and Anganwadi workers are busting myths and motivating people to take the jab as soon as possible.
Uttar Pradesh has played an important role in the pan-Indian vaccination campaign with its wide coverage of the population under the vaccine umbrella. From the very beginning, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has laid special emphasis on the vaccination campaign, underlining it as a strong weapon in dealing with the pandemic.
As Uttar Pradesh continues to conduct the vaccination drive most efficiently in the entire country, more than 95 per cent of the adult population in as many as 30 districts has received the first dose of vaccine, while six districts namely, Lucknow, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Shahjahanpur, Ghaziabad, Mainpuri and Etawah have achieved 100 per cent first dose coverage.
Out of over 2.57 lakh samples tested, as many as 17,185 tested positive for coronavirus in the last 24 hours. In the same period, 8,802 people recovered from the infection. At present, there are 1,03,474, active cases in UP out of which nearly 98 per cent patients are in home isolation. Less than 1 per cent of patients are admitted in hospitals.
In pursuance of the directives issued by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the process of screening and testing has been intensified in the state. Establishment of Covid Help Desk in all the offices, industrial units has been made mandatory. The chief minister has also instructed officials to maintain constant communication with the people under treatment in home isolation and to deliver medical kits to them as required.