Uttar Pradesh: Marginal rise in Covid cases amid Delta variant concerns

LUCKNOW: After registering less than 200 Covid-19 cases on Saturday, the state again recorded a jump with 222 fresh cases in the last 24 hours. The surge, albeit marginal, comes amid concerns of Delta variant of the virus spreading in some parts of the country. UP had recorded 173 cases on Saturday.
According to health bulletin, the number of new Covid-19 cases went up from 11 on Saturday to 23 on Sunday in Lucknow, from 5 to 15 in Varanasi, 4 to 11 in Prayagraj, four to 17 in Kanpur, and three to nine in Meerut.
The number of deaths rose marginally from 40 on Saturday to 45 the last 24 hours. The number of people recovering from infection also witnessed a steep fall – from Saturday’s 328 to 169 on Sunday.
However, Gautam Budh Nagar recorded a fall in new cases from 14 to just 2 in last 24 hours while total 22 districts, including Rae Bareli, Mainpuri, Azamgarh, Hardoi, Mau, Unnao and Maharajganj, did not record any fresh case.
Additional chief secretary (information) Navneet Sehgal said the state government was keeping a close watch on people coming to UP from states where Delta variant was being reported.
“Vigil is being maintained with the help of health workers and nigrani samitis (in case of villages). People must exercise restraint by using facemasks and avoiding crowded places, even after being vaccinated. The state government has not reduced testing. At least 2,77,890 samples were tested on Sunday which were up from 2,66,957 tests a day ago,” Sehgal said.
He added that the state government was committed to getting 10 crore people vaccinated by the end of August which would substantially reduce the impact of the third wave.
The state government has managed to inoculate over 3 crore people by conducting special drives to vaccinate different category of people.
Meanwhile, the state government has kicked off door-to-door distribution of special medicine kits with syrups and chewable tablets for children under ‘Corona Ki Jung Mein Har Jeevan Anmol’ campaign in view of the possible third wave.
The state government said it has prepared over 50 lakh pamphlets-cum-envelopes in which medical kits for children would be distributed by surveillance committees in all 75 districts of the state. The kits include syrups and chewable tablets of lesser dosage than adults. There are four kinds of kits — for children below one year, 1-5 years, 5-12 years and those between 12 and 18 years – which will be provided even in remote regions of the state.