Testing an average 2-3 lakh samples for novel coronavirus infection on a daily basis, Uttar Pradesh became the first state in the country to test over 8.50 crore samples for the viral infection. The state’s daily Covid testing has been over ten times more than the prescribed testing protocol for the state by global health body World Health Organisation, which stands at 32,000 tests per day. However, Covid testing in the state has hovered between 2.5 to 3 lakh daily in recent months.
“In terms of contact tracing too, Uttar Pradesh has left all the other states far behind by testing maximum samples on detection of a single positive case. As a result of this the most populous state has been able to effectively break the coronavirus-chain. Even as UP conducted the highest number of Covid testing in the country, the state government is pushing for more testing and soon will equip all 75 districts with Bio-Safety Level-2 laboratories to further boost the state’s testing capacity,” a government spokesman said in Lucknow on Monday.
Uttar Pradesh has administered over 8.75 crore vaccine doses so far thereby becoming the top state in the country vis a vis Covid vaccination. The state has also set an example before other states in controlling the coronavirus infection in a short time. On the other hand, Maharashtra lags behind with 6.81 crore doses delivered so far.
“Despite the huge size of the state with a sizable rural population, UP is committed to providing free vaccination to all its eligible citizens as soon as possible. The state has proactively worked towards this endeavour to which the rising monthly vaccination coverage of the state is testimony,” the official said.
UP reports 14 fresh cases
Meanwhile, eliminating the deadly second wave of COVID-19, 14 of the 1,80,599 samples tested across the state in the last 24 hours, tested positive for coronavirus infection. As a result the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) has slumped to lower than 0.01 per cent in Uttar Pradesh. In the same period, another 10 COVIS-19 patients recovered from the infection, adding to the recovery of over 16.86 lakh people so far.
Active Covid cases have drastically come down from a high of 3.10 lakh in the state in April this year to 175 now. As many as 33 districts, namely Ballia, Aligarh, Amroha, Ayodhya, Baghpat, Balrampur, Banda, Basti, Bahraich, Bhadohi, Bijnor, Bulandshahr, Chandauli, Chitrakoot, Etah, Fatehpur, Gonda, Hamirpur, Hardoi, Hathras, Kasganj, Kushinagar, Mahoba, Moradabad, Pilibhit, Pratapgarh, Rampur, Saharanpur, Shamli, Shravasti, Siddharth Nagar, Sultanpur and Sonbhadra have reported no positive case in recent days.