The surge in COVID-19 cases continued unabated as 6,411 more people tested positive for novel coronavirus infection and six deaths were reported in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.
During the corresponding period, 171 COVID-19 patients also recovered.
The silver lining during this period was that despite having 18,551 active cases, the pressure on the hospitals of the state was almost negligible as 18,184 infected people are recuperating at home.
Additional Chief Secretary (Medical and Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said that the importance of vaccination was evident because the need for hospitalisation was negligible for a vaccinated person.
To buttress his point, the official said that there were 2,556 active cases of COVID-19 in Lucknow district on March 29, 2021, out of which 312 people were admitted to hospitals, whereas on January 8, 2022, there are 2,573 active cases in Lucknow out of which only 15 patients were undergoing treatment in hospitals.
Prasad said that Covid vaccination was going on continuously and a total of 18.83 lakh doses of the vaccine were given across the state on January 7. This included 4.85 lakh doses administered in the age group of 15-18 years.
“Till Friday, 13.11 crore first doses have been given to people above 18 years in the state, which is 88.98 per cent of the adult population. The total number of second doses administered stand at 7.77 crore which is 52.71 per cent of the adult residents of the state. So far, a total of 20.88 crore doses have been given to people above 18 years. Besides, 17.16 lakh first doses of the vaccine have been given to children in the 15-18 year age group, which is about 12.25 per cent of their estimated number. Uttar Pradesh is the first state in the country to administer more than 21 crore jabs. The positivity rate in the state is 2.41 per cent at present as out of the 2.20 lakh samples tested in the state on Friday, only 6,411 were found to be positive.