At a Lucknow market. (PTI photo)
With 30 deaths due to the novel coronavirus reported in the last one week, the death toll on Saturday touched the three-digit mark at 104 in Uttar Pradesh — the seventh state to do so. The state’s Covid mortality rate is 2.5 per cent. Nine of the total deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.
The state also reported its highest single day jump in the number of positive cases — 203 — in the same period, taking the total to 4,258. The state, however, recorded a decrease in the active infection cases as 275 more people were discharged from hospitals. With 2,441 persons discharged till date, there are 1,713 active cases.
Among the new deaths, three have been reported in Agra, two in Jhansi and one each in Meerut, Noida, Moradabad and Azamgarh.
The patient in Meerut was a 52 -year-old woman. The city has recorded 18 deaths while 320 have tested positive. Meerut Chief Medical Officer Rajkumar Saini said that her family members have been quarantined while five new hot spots have also been added to the list of 48.
Meanwhile, the state government has allowed contacts of a novel coronavirus patient to stay in home quarantine rather than institutional one provided they have a separate room with a toilet, agree to download Aaroyga Setu app and follow the basic social distancing norms. Earlier, all contacts of an infected person were sent to institutional quarantine for a minimum of 14 days.
According to a government order, any person who has lived in the same house with a Covid-19 positive patient or has come in contact with the infection without wearing PPE kit is considered a contact.
The permission for home quarantined will be given only after inspecting the house of a contact, said Prasad.
Earlier, state officials, on the direction of the Central government, had allowed even infected people to opt for home isolation. Now, the state has changed its stance, saying it will keep positive patients in Covid hospitals to avoid any community transfer, said Principal Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad at a press briefing here on Saturday.
In another government order, the state has directed district authorities to de-seal all containment zones and hotspots if no positive case has been reported from there in the last 21 days. Currently, the state has 501 hotspots with 7.54 lakh houses under 333 police station jurisdictions.
The house in which a contact is allowed to be quarantined should not have high risk members such as a person above 60 years of age or with serious illness, a pregnant woman or a child. It is mandatory for a contact to paste a quarantine notice outside his house.
Talking about pool sampling, Prasad said the number more cases have been detected through this method as the state expected more migrants. “Yesterday we tested 5,612 samples in different laboratories. Moreover, 420 pools were tested, and 59 of them were positive. We are noticing a trend that with more migrant workers coming to the state, more pools are found to be positive. Through Asha workers, we are reaching to migrant workers under 21-day home quarantine. If they are symptomatic then we test them. If positive, they are sent to institutional isolation. If not, they are kept in quarantine for seven days and tested again,” he said.
with INPUTS FROM AMIT SHARMA
Penalty of up to Rs 1,000 for defying lockdown
The state government on Saturday said that if anyone who is not a Covid positive patient defies the lockdown, they will be fined Rs 100 to Rs 500, and Rs 1,000 for subsequent violations.
Issuing an order under the Epidemic Act, it said that if anybody is seen roaming without covering their face, they will be fined Rs 100 for the first and second offence, and Rs 500 for the subsequent violations.
A fine of Rs 250 will be slapped if two persons are travelling on a two-wheeler, and the amount would be increased to Rs 500 for a second time offence.
However, a person who does not know how to ride a two-wheeler can take permission from a magistrate. Spitting at a public place has also been made an offence.