The surge of novel coronavirus positive cases continued in Uttar Pradesh as 205 fresh cases were reported in the last 24 hours while 81 COVID-19 patients recovered during this period.
Two districts – Gautam Buddha Nagar and Ghaziabad – continued to bear the brunt as 103 fresh cases were reported from GB Nagar and 52 from Ghaziabad. Lucknow also reported 16 fresh novel coronavirus positive cases during this period.
There were 980 active cases in the state on Thursday evening.
While reviewing the COVID-19 situation in the state with senior officials in a high-level meeting on Thursday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said according to health experts, the new strain of the novel coronavirus could be more transmissible, but this was not a matter of concern for Uttar Pradesh as the form of infection was unlikely to change and would not cause any kind of severity as compared to other variants.
The chief minister directed officials to intensify awareness activities and said, "We have to be vigilant about the health and safety of children and they should be made aware of Covid protocols in schools."
The state government has also made wearing of masks and social distancing mandatory at all public places in the National Capital Region (NCR) districts and Lucknow.
Additional Chief Secretary Amit Mohan Prasad said that as per studies, the vaccinated population had nothing to worry about the new strain.
Inching closer towards another vaccination milestone, Uttar Pradesh has so far administered over 30,95,36,315 doses of the Covid vaccine. Out of these, over 16,99,10,182 are first doses. Over 13,69,75,096 people have been fully vaccinated in the state while as many as 26.51 lakh precaution doses have been administered so far.
So far, over 2,19,48,657 children in the age group of 15-17 and over 37,77,707 children in the age group of 12-14 have been administered Covid vaccine doses in the state
“In view of the importance of vaccination in the prevention of COVID-19, the chief minister has given instructions to intensify the vaccination drive,” Prasad said.
He said the chief minister had asked officials to ramp up the administration of the booster dose of Covid vaccine to all adults. The booster doses are being administered at 700 private vaccination centres in the state.