Yogi, Akhilesh test positive; UP records 20,510 fresh cases

On a day Uttar Pradesh recorded 20,510 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and former CM and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday.

The state witnessed over a 10-fold spurt in the number of active cases in less than a fortnight. Uttar Pradesh recorded 1,11,835 active cases of the Covid infection on Wednesday.

With 20,510 people testing positive in the last 24 hours, the state saw the highest single-day jump since the pandemic broke out in the state. So far, 9,376 Covid deaths have been recorded, including 68 deaths in the last 24 hours. The recovery ratio has reduced to 83 per cent.

On Tuesday, the CM had isolated himself after several staffers of the Chief Minister’s Office tested positive for Covid-19. “After showing primary symptoms I got tested for the coronavirus and my report has confirmed me positive. I am in self-isolation and following the directions given by doctors. All the office works are being completed virtually by me. All activities of the state government are running normally. All those who came into my contact should get tested,” he tweeted.

Akhilesh is also undergoing self-isolation at his house. He too requested all those who had come in contact with him in the last few days to get tested and quarantine themselves.

The worsening situation in the state is evident by the fact that over 1.09 lakh people contracted the infected in a week till Wednesday, as against just 28,971 cases in the week before, and 7,740 new positive cases in the final week of March. During the peak last year, September was the worst month both in terms of fresh positive and the number of active cases reported. The highest weekly jump in Uttar Pradesh was recorded between September 6 and 13 when 45,753 people tested positive. Moreover, at least 412 people died of the virus in last seven days.

Earlier in the day, with an intention to ensure the availability of anti-viral medication Remdesivir, the CM sent a state plane to Ahmedabad to bring 25,000 doses of the medicine. The doses reached the state on Wednesday evening. The CM has directed the officials to make arrangements to further increase the availability of the doses, and has sought a report from the health department in this regard. As per an information department statement, this was the third time a state place was sent to Ahmedabad to bring medicines or health equipment.

The CM has also directed the authorities to ensure that the Remdesivir injection is available on the decided cost to people and other seven medicines used in Covid treatment are sufficiently available. Other than Remdesivir, the medicines are Ivermectin, Paracetamol, Doxycycline, Azithromycin, Vitamin C, Zinc tablets, Vitamin B complex and Vitamin D3. Every district is supposed to ensure availability of these medicines and companies manufacturing these medicines have also been contacted.

State Drug Controller A K Jain confirmed that the country is producing Remdesivir and the companies have been asked to provide Uttar Pradesh the required amount of the injection. He further claimed that the injection is available enough in the state at present, and patients are given the doses when required.

Meanwhile, Additional Chief Secretary (Information) Navneet Sehgal said on directions of the chief minister, the number of Covid beds has been increased in highly-affected districts such as Lucknow, Prayagraj, Kanpur Nagar and Varanasi. These four districts are the worst affected in terms of fresh cases, active case and case fatalities.

While Lucknow has 5,433 new cases, Prayagraj recorded 1,702 cases in the last 24 hours, followed by 1,595 in Varanasi and 1,221 in Kanpur Nagar. While Gorakhpur and Jhansi reported more than 500 fresh positive cases, 37 more districts have the number above 100. In terms of active cases, Lucknow alone contributes to more than 28 per cent of the total caseload. If combined, Lucknow, Prayagraj and Varanasi collectively have 53,795 active cases – over 48 per cent of the caseload.

Out of over 1.11 lakh active cases in the state, 97,190 or more than 86 per cent have been asked to stay in home isolation and 1,648 are in private hospitals. The CM has also appealed that those allowed home isolation should get treatment as directed by doctors. Also, those in home isolation should be admitted to hospital only if suggested by a doctor. The decision has been made to avoid the present situation where several patients are seen running from pillar to post for hospitals beds.

More than 83.49 lakh have received the first dose of the vaccine and over 13.93 lakh of them have received both doses.