With COVID-19 active cases declining to zero in Shravasti, the district has given a major boost to Uttar Pradesh in its fight against the novel coronavirus as the district appears to have completely eradicated the novel coronavirus with the last known infected person there recovering on Tuesday.
The news was welcomed with immense joy as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced to reward the district which eliminated the disease with emphasis on strict screening, treatment and vaccination.
“Shravasti’s success is an inspiration for all other districts. It is a result of the combined efforts of all residents of the district, health workers, frontline workers and the local administration. The district will be rewarded if the current situation is maintained for one more week,” the chief minister announced in a high-level Covid review meeting held here on Wednesday.
Shravasti has been able to limit the fresh COVID-19 cases to zero for almost a week now.
“This achievement is a result of dedicated efforts of the surveillance committees, local participation, large-scale contact tracing and planned containment strategy,” said District Magistrate of Shravasti, TK Shibu.
Significantly, the administration prioritised active surveillance while simultaneously providing free medicine kits at the doorstep of infected people by the surveillance committees that are active in the district.
“Following the T3 mantra of Trace, Test and Treat, Shravasti strengthened contact tracing and tested up to 15 people on confirmation of a single infected person. The nodal officers and the lekhpals conducted door-to-door screening and awareness drives,” the district magistrate added.
In an encouraging sign, the active COVID-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh fell below the 2,000-mark, as per the figures released on Wednesday. The active cases have drastically reduced from a high of 3,10,783 in April to 1,947 now, out of which nearly 1,300 infected people are taking treatment in home isolation.
Out of the 2,57,897 samples tested in the last 24 hours, merely 120 samples tested positive for the novel coronavirus infection and as a result the Test Positivity Rate slumped to 0.04 per cent.
Meanwhile, cautioning people about the probable third wave, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has appealed to them to learn from the past and take all precautions to decimate this deadly virus before it causes any more damage to lives. Adopting a proactive and multifaceted approach to blunt the mutated variant of novel coronavirus, Yogi has asked officials to take all the necessary steps as per the advice of experts without delay.
He has also urged people not to let the guard down by strictly following Covid appropriate behaviour which includes 100 per cent usage of double masks, sanitisers, social distancing, and extensive vaccination.
The cases of Delta and Delta Plus variants of novel coronavirus found in many states of the country have prompted the UP government to issue warnings and put doctors on a high alert.
“As Uttar Pradesh has successfully tackled COVID-19 second wave, any kind of carelessness can lead to a big problem. Therefore, extra vigilance and caution are needed,” Yogi said.
The chief minister has also asked officials to take feedback on handling the Delta Plus variant from states that have reported Delta variant cases so that UP could implement an effective strategy against it.
The government has also issued a directive to set up BSL-2 labs in 11 districts including Auraiya, Mahoba, Bulandshahr, Amethi, Siddharthnagar, Deoria, Bijnor, Kasganj, Mau, Kushinagar, and Sonbhadra.