Uttar Pradesh: Tally crosses 60,000 with record 2,712 cases, 50 deaths in 24 hours

LUCKNOW: Scaling a new high, a record 2,712 fresh cases of Covid-19 were reported in the state, while 50 persons died of the pandemic infection in the past 24 hours. Both were maximum in a single day.
With this, the total number of cases in UP crossed the 60,000 mark to reach 60,829 on Friday. The Covid data reveals that over 11,000 or 18.5% of these cases have been added in five days.
"The number of active infections in the state is now 21,711," said additional chief secretary, health and family welfare, Amit Mohan Prasad, adding that the total number of recoveries in the state had reached 37,712. Of the 50 deaths, seven each took place in Lucknow and Kanpur, while Bareilly recorded four. In Meerut, Varanasi, Agra, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Bulandshahr and Gonda two deaths each were reported.
Districts of Lalitpur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Bahraich, Mirzapur, Amroha, Shamli, Azamgarh, Unnao, Bijnore, Chandauli, Muzaffarnagar, Mathura, Ayodhya, Saharanpur, Barabanki, Sambhal, Moradabad and Jaunpur recorded one death each.
A look at the new cases revealed that over 51% of the burden belonged to 11 big cities, including Lucknow (297), Kanpur (189), Bareilly (163), Jhansi (148), Varanasi (147), Prayagraj (124), Ghaziabad (122), Gautam Budh Nagar (93),Gorakhpur (63), Meerut (26) and Agra (25). Ballia and Jaunpur districts recorded spikes of 135 and 121 cases.
Prasad laid stress on taking preventions seriously as the number of cases were increasing rapidly. "The rapid rise in Covid cases in the country is reflecting in the state too. Prevention is the only bet we have in hand to check the spread," he said.