Give priority to temporary staff hired during Covid: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath

LUCKNOW: Temporary staff hired to strengthen the state's health services during the Covid period should be given priority in government hiring over the next few years, said chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday.
He gave the instructions during the meeting with Team 9.
He also said that pending payments of all outsourced and temporary staff who worked during the Covid phase should be made immediately.
"Payment of outstanding honorarium should be made immediately to all temporary and outsourcing personnel who served during the pandemic. If the personnel have not been paid by an agency whose payment has been released by the government, then cognizance should be taken, and arrears should be paid. The honorarium is the right of the personnel after service and should be paid on time," the CM said.
Directing departments to remain vigilant against rising Covid-19 cases, the CM said that people should be encouraged to take vaccines, especially booster dose.
People should be encouraged to take Covid booster dose: CM Yogi Adityanath
Directing departments to remain vigilant against rising Covid-19 cases, the CM said that people should be encouraged to take vaccines, especially the booster dose. While UP has given the most number of Covid vaccine doses, there are more than 11 lakh doses available with the government and more can be procured as per the need. People should be encouraged to get vaccinated.
It was discussed in the meeting that in December 2022, 9.06 lakh tests were carried out in which only 103 positive cases were discovered. The positivity rate in the state was 0.01% during this period.
As of Monday, there were 49 active cases in the state. Testing has been ramped up with over 42,000 samples tested in the last 24 hours as of Monday morning. "The changing trends of the virus should be closely monitored. Whatever shortcomings have been found in the recent mock drills should be rectified immediately. During the past two years, the government has set up ICUs in every district. These should be kept functional. Anaesthetics and other specialist doctors and technicians should be available in every ICU. Three technicians should be deployed at each oxygen plant," the CM said.
He directed all hospitals to carry out their own mock drills and ensure that there were no shortage of doctors or technicians. He said that continuous monitoring of the new variant of Covid should be done and all new cases should be sent for genome sequencing. Daily testing should be increased, he added. He also emphasised on the need to reinforce Covid protocols and to encourage people to wear masks in public places.