Uttar Pradesh plans to lodge asymptomatic COVID-19 patients in facilities such as hotels, lodges or hostels to free up space for more serious patients admitted to hospitals, a senior official said on Tuesday.

U.P. currently has over 10,000 isolation beds and by moving asymptomatic patients to facilities near hospitals, the government can accommodate an additional 10,000 patients, said Amit Mohan Prasad, Principal Secretary, Health. “The hospital beds can be more useful for the more serious patients,” said Mr. Prasad.

While it was estimated that around 75% of COVID-19 patients are asymptomatic, the U.P. government was going with a “conservative” estimate of 50%, he said.

The government would “hire” the buildings near hospitals to accommodate the asymptomatic patients and treat them there, he said.

Download The Hindu’s multi-language e-book on essential COVID-19 information

U.P. has also set up 4,243 quarantine homes and lodged 1.29 lakh persons in them till Tuesday, said Awanish Awasthi, Additional Chief Secretary, Home department. The district police chiefs and magistrates have been instructed to ensure “entertainment” facilities for people lodged in these centres. Television sets could be installed where needed and food menus changed, he said.

The number of positive cases in U.P. has climbed to 314, spread across 37 districts, said Mr. Prasad. Out of these, 166 were linked to the Tablighi Jamaat.

U.P. currently has testing facilities at 10 laboratories. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said COVID-19 testing laboratories would be set up in district hospitals of all divisional headquarters. Sample collection centres would be set up in all 75 districts, he said.