Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday declared 10 districts across the state Corona free. These districts include Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Hathras, Bareilly, Prayagraj, Maharajganj, Shahjahanpur, Barabanki, Hardoi and Kaushambi as they have zero active Covid-19 positive cases. Meanwhile, with 112 new corona positive reported on Wednesday, the state's tally rose 1,449.

Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Amit Mohan Prasad said that coronavirus was presently active in 53 districts in the state.

"As per the official data, 19.51 per cent of Covid-19 patients are in the age group of 0 to 20. Similarly, 47.49 per cent belonged to the age group of 21 to 40 years, where 37.03% are male and 10.46% are female. 24.66 per cent infected people are in the age group of 41 to 60 years. Out of the total infected case, 78.80 per cent are men and 21.20 per cent are women," he said.

According to the latest data of the UP Health department, a total of 42,912 people were tested for coronavirus in the state, of which 40,263 have tested negative while 1,449 have tested positive. The test results of 480 people are still awaited. 173 people have recovered and have been discharged from the hospitals.

Meanwhile, 21 deaths have occurred in the state including one each from Basti, Varanasi, Bulandhshear, Kanpur, Lucknow, Firozabad and Aligarh, while three deaths have been reported from Meerut, five from Moradabad and six from Agra.

Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Avanish Kumar Awasthi hailed Muslim religious leaders and clerics for supporting the appeal made by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to the people of the state for observing 'Sehri' and 'Iftar' during the holy month of Razman from within their houses. The leaders then appealed to the people of their community to celebrate the holy occassion by staying in their homes.

He also said that the number testing laboratories in the state were being increased. "COVID Care Fund Committee has approved setting up of testing labs in Aligarh, Moradabad and Saharanpur. The Chief Minister's Assistance Fund has now been renamed as Chief Minister's Victim Assistance Fund, COVID Care Fund. With this fund, the three-tier medical system would be made more effective," he said.

He said that CM Yogi Adityanath had issued orders to exempt farming resources from the lockdown. "About 77 per cent wheat has been harvested. Similarly, sugarcane harvesting is also almost complete. The state government has procured 30 lakh quintals of wheat, which is an achievement. Interestingly, 62 per cent of wheat procurement has been done outside the mandi, i.e. through doorstep collection," he added.

The chief minister reviewed the districts with over 10 Covid-19 cases and directed officials to strictly implement lockdown in these districts. During his meeting with Team 11, Adityanath said that those who violate lockdown should be strictly dealt. He also asked officials to ensure that there was no discrepancy in supply chain and all workers involved should be medically examined.

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