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Ramping up its preparedness amid apprehension of a third wave of COVID-19 and cases of Delta Plus variant of the novel coronavirus emerging in other states, the Uttar Pradesh government on Friday kick-started a special focused 10-day testing drive to limit any further spread of the dreaded virus in the state.
Under this, people returning from states like Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and others which have been witnessing a surge of fresh coronavirus infection cases and its new variant, will be subjected to intensive screening. “UP has been able to control the COVID-19 situation fairly well and in view of rising cases in other states, we must intensify our contact tracing operation. The objective of this 10-day focused screening drive is to enable early detection followed by early treatment,” said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath while issuing directives to senior officials at a high-level Covid review meeting in Lucknow on Friday.
The 10-day testing drive has been divided in a way to cover the entire state in order to remove any risk of further transmission. The drive will be conducted for five days in rural areas and an equal number of days in urban areas. Even as the second wave of COVID-19 has been waning in the state, the Yogi government has geared up to combat vector-borne diseases, such as encephalitis and malaria, with the onset of monsoon across the state. Officials have been directed to make special efforts to improve surveillance and keep the spread of these diseases in check to restore normalcy.
Aiming to break the chain of infection and keep villagers safe from coronavirus infection, the state government has deployed more than 70,000 surveillance committees, whose members are going door-to-door in over 97,000 villages of the state to identify and isolate coronavirus positive citizens, trace their contacts and distribute free medicine kits, pulse oximeter and thermometers.
With six more districts -- Aligarh, Kasganj, Shravasti, Hathras, Mahoba and Lalitpur – making a place in the list of coronavirus-free districts of UP, the state’s recovery rate has climbed up to a remarkable 98.6 per cent.
In another significant development, as many as 38 districts reported no new case of novel coronavirus infection during the last 24 hours, whereas 36 districts reported new cases in single digit. Only Lucknow reported fresh cases of coronavirus infection in double digits. Of the 2.60 lakh samples tested in the last 24 hours, merely 88 tested positive for coronavirus infection and as a result Test Positivity Rate (TPR) dipped to 0.03 per cent in Uttar Pradesh. Active cases have also drastically come down from a high of 3.10 lakh in April to 1,339 as on date, out of which 1,118 are in home isolation.