Delta plus variant: Alert in east Uttar Pradesh districts

LUCKNOW: Eastern Uttar Pradesh districts which have relentless flow of people travelling via Madhya Pradesh and Bundelkhand districts bordering the state have been put on alert after detection of the Delta Plus variant.
On Thursday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said that samples should be collected from such districts and sent for genome sequencing.
Health minister Jai Singh said that busy railway stations in eastern UP are being monitored and random testing has been ramped up. These include cities like Basti, Jaunpur, Gorakhpur and Prayagraj.
“We have been sending 10% of all positive samples for genome sequencing for a few months. But yes, we are keeping a strict vigil, especially in border areas and airport cities like Lucknow. ICMR is studying the new Delta Plus variant and if they formulate a different protocol to deal with it they will communicate to us,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jhansi district magistrate Andra Vamsi said that random testing has been started on the highways connecting UP with MP. “We are carrying out tests at the entry points of UP. One at Babina on Sagar Road and Raksh on Shivpuri Road. A target of conducting 100 random tests each day has been set. All those visiting hospitals are also being tested. Other than this, we are sending all positive test samples for genome sequencing to CDRI in Lucknow and to Noida. However, we are getting just three-four positive cases each day and had only one case on Thursday,” said Vamsi.
To ensure that there are no unmissed cases in villages, monitoring committees have been asked to collect 10 samples from every village each day and also bring 20 people from each village for vaccination daily.
In Etawah, DM Shruti Singh said that intensive testing is already being carried out in the district but in light of the threat of the new variant, random testing is going to be increased in the district in the coming days.
“We have already planned for the increase in random testing. So far we are getting about one or two positive cases each day. There is also not much tourist traffic this side and mostly mining vehicles enter the state from MP. However, we will be keeping a check on private movement,” she said.