Capital Lucknow continues to be the worst-hit district of the state recording the highest cases of infection (792) as well as fatalities (12) in one day. (Representational)

With at least 14 districts in the state recording more than 100 new cases of Covid infection, the total count of people testing positive of the virus reached 2,08,419 on Thursday, out of which 5,463 were recorded in the past 24 hours.

As many as 79 people died in the last 24 hours, taking the total death count of the state to 3,217. The case-fatality ratio hovering around 1.55.

However, with the recovery of 1,52,893 patients – 4,331 in the last 24 hours – the active case count rose to 52,309, the highest so far.

Capital Lucknow continues to be the worst-hit district of the state recording the highest cases of infection (792) as well as fatalities (12) in one day.

Prayagraj recorded second most new cases (351), followed by Kanpur Nagar (281), Gorakhpur (232), Saharanpur (163), Aligarh (154), Ghaziabad (151), Moradabad and Varanasi (146 each), Bareilly (127), Maharaganj (114), Barabanki (113), Gautam Buddh Nagar (112), and Ayodhya (109).

At least four districts have over 2,000 active cases – Lucknow (6,791), Kanpur Nagar (3,195) Prayagraj (2,816) and Gorakhpur (2,658).

Meanwhile, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi said that by testing 1,38,378 samples on Wednesday, UP became the first state to cross 50 lakh tests in the country. Now, for every 10 lakh people in the state, 22,581 people have been tested.

“Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed his satisfaction over 50 lakh tests and asked to work on doing two lakh tests per day,” Awasthi said.

The Centre on Thursday reviewed the Covid-19 management and response strategy in nine states, including Uttar Pradesh, and one UT which contributed to 89 per cent of deaths due to the infection in the last two weeks, an official statement said.

In a video-conference review meeting chaired by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, these states and the UT were asked to continue with rigorous vigil to contain the spread of infection as well as’ take steps to reduce fatalities. nThe states and the UT were advised to proactively take steps towards reducing case fatality to less than one per cent across all districts focusing on effective containment, contact tracing and surveillance.

With PTI Inputs