Uttar Pradesh has clamped night curfew and has decided to close physical classes in all educational institutions till January 16 after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath chaired the COVID-19 review meeting in Lucknow on Sunday.
The government has also decided to vaccinate all children between 15 and 18 years of age by January 15.
Under the stringent containment mechanism implemented to check spread of COVID-19, the government on Sunday announced that the night curfew restrictions would be in place from 10 pm to 6 am in all 75 districts of the state. The decision was taken in view of the surge in COVID-19 cases and detection of Omicron variant across several states in the country
"In view of the developing situation due to COVID-19, night curfew has been imposed in every district of Uttar Pradesh between 10 pm and 6 am. Physical classes have also been suspended in all educational institutions till January 16. Classes in online mode can continue. However, scheduled examinations can be conducted," reads the official release.
The chief minister also passed instructions for the district administration to monitor the situation and ensure necessary resources for the curtailment of the virus.
"Monitoring committees and Integrated Covid Command and Control Centres should be fully operational. Separate numbers should be issued for home isolation, monitoring committees, ambulance and teleconsultation," reads the release.
"Teleconsultation facilities should also be made available to the people by deploying a panel of doctors in every district. Medicine kits should be made available to the people as per their needs. Adequate availability of life-saving drugs needed for the treatment of COVID-19 should be ensured," it added.
In the meeting with the officials here on Sunday, Yogi Adityanath directed that special attention should be given to patients with comorbidities, the elderly and the children suffering from novel coronavirus infection.
If such people are infected, there should be continuous monitoring of their treatment process and medicine kits should be made available to them immediately. Monitoring committees should be functional in villages under the leadership of gram pradhans and in urban wards under the leadership of councillors. Monitoring committees should run a door-to-door programme to prepare the list of unvaccinated people so that they can be motivated and encouraged for vaccination, he said.
Meanwhile, the government has decided to vaccinate all children between 15 and 18 years of age by January 15. While reviewing the COVID-19 situation, Yogi Adityanath said the government's effort was to achieve the target of vaccinating all eligible adolescents in the state by January 15. He said special camps should be opened in secondary schools and it should be ensured that 100 per cent of the adolescents received their first dose by the end of this week.
So far, over 21,54,908 teenagers have been administered the Covid vaccine in the state.
Even as Uttar Pradesh continues to conduct the vaccination drive most efficiently in the country with over 21.26 crore vaccine doses administered so far, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has issued directives to ensure complete preparedness for the vaccination of 15-18 category, frontline workers and senior citizens from January 10.
“Sufficient availability of vaccine doses must be ensured so that the drive is carried out in a phased and hassle-free manner to benefit the eligible beneficiaries,” the chief minister said.
For those districts where the first dose coverage is still lower than 80 per cent, the chief minister has asked the authorities to prepare a detailed action plan and ensure 100 per cent vaccination of adults. In addition, those who have not yet been vaccinated should be encouraged to take the Covid vaccine shot as soon as possible. For vaccination, the general public should also be contacted through the CM Helpline.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh reached another milestone in its Covid vaccination rollout. It has administered the highest number of doses across the board among states. Over 89.42 per cent of the population has been partially vaccinated, whereas nearly 54 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in the state.
In the light of the emergence of the new coronavirus variant Omicron, the government has expedited its vaccination coverage in the state. The chief minister has already said that complete vaccination has proved to be effective in fighting against new variants like Omicron, hence the pace of the ongoing vaccination drive has been ramped up.