Yogi govt leads fight against Coronavirus, UP becomes 1st state to conduct 1 crore Covid-19 tests

New Delhi: Yogi Adityanath-led govt is decisively tackling the Coronavirus pandemic, mobilizing all its resources and manpower in containing the spread of virus.

On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh became the first state to conduct 1 crore tests for Covid-19, the chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced.

“Today, we have completed one crore COVID-19 tests in Uttar Pradesh. We have conducted 1.5 lakh tests per day for the past 45 days,” the Chief Minister said, speaking at the inauguration ceremony of hospitals of Level 1 and Level 2 in 6 districts of the state.

“We are conducting 50,000-55,000 RT PCR tests, 3,000 TrueNat tests and remaining are being performed by antigen tests,” CM Yogi added.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of over 7.4 crore Covid-19 samples have been tested across the country so far. Out of this, UP alone accounts for 1 crore tests highlighting state govt’s focus on ‘tracking & testing’ method.

Maharashtra being worst affected by Covid-19 remains a distant second in comparison to Covid-testing in Uttar Pradesh.

CM Yogi further said, “6 months back, we did not have facilities to tackle coronavirus in the State. We had to recommend patients to Delhi for better treatment. But now, we have built level 1 and level 2 facilities in various hospitals.”

The state government has also decided to set up Level-2 hospitals in all 75 districts while improving facilities of existing L-2 hospitals for treatment of Covid-19 patients.

CM Yogi has also directed the Health and Medical Education Department to make available facilities of virtual ICUs in all the L-2 and L-3 hospitals across the state.

CM’s call for intensified surveillance, contact tracing

UP CM Yogi Adityanath has been repeatedly directing officials to expedite the number of Covid-19 tests in the state.

CM Yogi asked officials to intensify surveillance and contact tracing in order to keep COVID positivity rate below 5% and death rate below 1% in the state.

16 nodal officers have been deployed in those districts reporting more than 100 cases in a week, where they will work out an effective strategy plan in co-ordination with respective District Magistrates (DMs) and Chief Medical Officers (CMO).

According to the Union Health Ministry, Uttar Pradesh has recorded 52,160 active COVID-19 cases, 3,36,981 cured, discharged or migrated and 5,715 patients who succumbed to the virus.