With the fresh spike in novel coronavirus positive cases across the state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered closure of classes up to VIII standard in state-run and private schools till April 11 and has asked officials to take action against people who do not wear masks in public places.
The chief minister was reviewing the Covid situation at a high-level meeting at his official residence here on Friday.
He issued directives to close all the government and private schools from classes 1 to 8 till April 11 in view of the spurt in novel coronavirus positive cases.
"During this period, teaching work in the schools will remain suspended while teachers will keep coming to the school for administrative work," he said.
Schools up to class VIII were earlier closed till April 4.
The chief minister said that all types of resources were available in adequate quantities in the state to control the infection of COVID-19 and to treat patients.
"We have extensive experience in successfully dealing with COVID-19 cases and should continue the fight the virus with the experience gained last year and better coordination of resources," he said.
The chief minister said that public address systems should be used effectively to make people aware of novel coronavirus infection. He said to prevent the spread of the infection, mandatory use of masks, sanitisation and social distancing should be ensured. "If people do not put on masks in public places, then action should be taken against them," he said.
Yogi Adityanath also instructed officials to prepare a report on the status of restoration of Covid hospitals across the state and said that in view of rise in COVID-19 cases, the number of Level-2 and Level-3 Covid hospitals should be increased.
"Effective arrangements for testing, tracking and treatment should be ensured," he said.
The chief minister said that COVID-19 patients who were placed in home isolation should be monitored continuously and their condition should be observed.
He also directed the officials to activate monitoring committees and to make the surveillance system effective.
He said that people from outside states were coming to Uttar Pradesh in view of festivals and panchayat elections and in such a situation, all steps should be taken to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection in villages.
The chief minister instructed officials to maintain special vigilance in Lucknow, Kanpur Nagar, Meerut, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Ghaziabad, Agra districts and said that the number of Level-2 and Level-3 beds should be increased in these districts.
He directed all district magistrates and chief medical officers to meet regularly in the morning in the Covid hospitals and in the evening in the integrated command and control centre to review the situation and decide the strategy.
He said that the needs of the patients undergoing treatment and those in home isolation should be taken care of and their problems should be resolved. He said continuous communication with patients should be maintained through CM Helpline and the chief minister's office should be made aware of the situation every day.
Reviewing the progress of vaccination, the chief minister said that from April 1 people in the age group of 45 years and above had also been included in the vaccination campaign and therefore the speed of vaccination had to be increased.
For this, vaccination is also being done in health and wellness centres. Therefore, following the guidelines of the Government of India, vaccination should be done with full commitment and wastage of the vaccine should be stopped at all costs, he underlined.