Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed that the use of plasma therapy and pool testing be increased in the state as the number of COVID-19 patients rose to 1,873 on Sunday.

“The Chief Minister has instructed that we should now consider increasing plasma therapy to treat coronavirus patients, as it has yielded good results," Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi said. He added that Adityanath has directed that pool testing is also carried out to check more people for the infection.

The CM has also instructed that special teams be deputed to prevent infection in medical personnel working in government and private hospitals in every district.

Awasthi said that Adityanath also directed that necessary resources such as personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and N-95 masks be made available in all hospitals. He has instructed that biomedical waste from treatment of COVID-19 patients be disposed of safely, and appointed environmental engineers to every team to see to that end.

The CM also said that it should be ensured that only COVID-19 patients are treated in hospitals dedicated to fighting the pandemic. Special officers have been deployed in 18 districts who turn in daily reports, Awasthi said.

Moreover, on Adityanath's directions, around 9,800 are being brought back to the state from Haryana, of which 2,200 reached UP on Saturday.

As many as 80 new coronavirus cases were reported from the state on Sunday, taking the tally to 1,873. A total of 327 have been treated successfully and discharged, while 30 have died.

Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare, Amot Mohan Prasad said, “Although, 58 districts have been affected by coronavirus, currently COVID-19 cases are active in only 48 districts." No new cases have been reported in 17 districts while 10 districts have been declared virus-free.

Through 318 pool samples, testing of 1,590 samples has been done in nine laboratories of the state. So far, more than 56,000 samples have been tested in the state, according to Prasad.

He also revealed the sex and age distribution of the patients, saying that 79.15% of the patients were men while 20.85% were women. Of the total numer of patients, 7.62% are aged 60 years or above.

"As many as 11,715 people have been placed in quarantine and 1,601 in isolation," Prasad said.

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