LUCKNOW: As Delhi heads towards another peak and is reporting a record of over 6,000
new cases daily, cities in west UP adjoining the capital are also staring at a spike in infection.
On Wednesday, Noida reported 339 cases, beating even Lucknow, which has consistently been the district with the
highest number of new
Covid-19 cases across the state since the past several days.
Ghaziabad reported 130 cases on Wednesday, while Meerut reported 175. Together, the three districts contributed 29.21% to the state’s daily positive cases.
If combined with Lucknow, the four districts accounted for 41.78% of the total new cases in the state on Wednesday.
Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath has directed officials to increase surveillance and testing in these areas to keep control over the rise in cases.
“Cases in all cities bordering Delhi have been reflecting the trend seen in the capital as there are lakhs of people who live in these cities across the border, but work in Delhi and vice versa. Delhi’s cases have been rising since the past week or 10 days and we can see that getting reflected in Gautam Budh Nagar, Ghaziabad and Meerut. We need to be very careful in these areas,” said an official.
He added that the high pollution concentration in the capital had also affected these areas, which could have contributed to an increase in the number of new cases per day.
On October 25, total active cases in Gautam Budh Nagar were 1,082 which then gradually rose to 1,261 on November 1 and again went on to touch 1,443 on November 4.
Similarly, Ghaziabad moved from 1,142 cases on October 25 to 1,041 on November 1 and now to 1,146. Meerut, meanwhile, went up from 1,351 to 1,431 and then to 1,498 in the same duration.
Gautam Budh Nagar with 339 cases and 177 recoveries on Wednesday upset the state’s Covid recovery data.
Officials say the sharp spike in this district is especially worrying. Since November 1, the district has reported 839 positive cases.
“The district administration has been told to strengthen contact tracing and surveillance in this district especially. With Diwali coming up, it is imperative to ensure that the situation does not get out of hand,” the official said.