The death toll continued to mount in Uttar Pradesh which recorded 332 fatalities and 34,626 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, with the six main cities accounting for around 50 per cent of the infections. However, the silver lining was the recovery figures as 32,494 patients managed to defeat the dreaded disease. There are still 3,10,783 active cases in the state, according to Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad.
He said that 2,44,148 Covid tests were conducted in the state in the last 24 hours, including 1,08,000 RT-PCR tests. “With Lucknow, Kanpur Nagar, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Meerut and Bareilly are contributing around half of the total infections in the state, the government is now conducting focus testing in these cities,” Prasad said, adding that large containment zones will be constructed, if need be.
“As the three-day lockdown begins from Friday night, focus testing will be done at a very fast pace along with sanitisation. Along with this, people in home isolation are also being closely monitored. The government is also stressing on the provision of medical oxygen, beds and medicines in the hospitals,” he said.
Meanwhile, an official report said that Lucknow continued to be the hotspot in the state with 3,958 fresh cases. However, 6,073 recoveries were reported in the state capital in the past 24 hours. As many as 37 people lost their fight to coronavirus during this period.
Kanpur recorded 1875 fresh cases and 19 deaths, Prayagraj 1,232 cases and 14 deaths, Varanasi 1,573 cases and 15 deaths, and Meerut 1,561 cases seven deaths.