Cases mount, UP gets plasma boost

Among the 19 new cases in Sant Kabir Nagar, 18 are family members and relatives of a youth who had returned from Deoband and had tested positive two days.

In a setback, Prayagraj, which was recently declared “corona-free” with the recovery of all the patients there, on Saturday reported three new cases. According to State Surveillance Officer Vikasendu Agarwal, two of the three patients are migrant workers who returned from Mumbai last week and another has claimed old travel history, which however is not confirmed yet.

In Lucknow, the number of cases reached close to 200 with 19 new cases that included two patients of Chandan Hospital, seven family members of a cable operator from Birhana area, six linked to Tablighi Jamaat who were under quarantine, and two from Kasai Bara in Sadar area – the biggest hotspot in Lucknow district.

“In Basti, the coronavirus positive figure has reached to 23 and 21 in Sant Kabir Nagar after 19 new cases last night. We have identified eight hotspots and no one is allowed to enter or go outside. We will be registering FIR against those trying to breach the lockdown,” said IG Basti (Range) Ashutosh Kumar.

Seven policemen, including a sub-inspector-rank officer, have reportedlytested positive in Varanasi. Though they were not listed in the latest bulletin of the state Health Department, sources said that all the seven policemen were deployed at Nagar Nigam police outpost under Sigra police station in Varanasi. District administration and police are yet to ascertain how the seven policemen got infected.

In Kanpur, six policemen have also reportedly tested positive.

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With more doctors and health workers testing positive, Principal Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad expressed his concern over infection spreading from hospitals and said that the government will constitute a team of experts to review the situation in hospitals. “We have decided that every district will now have a team headed by an Additional CMO to make sure that the protocol is implemented properly in every hospital. The team will have IMA representative, other doctors, and workers of the WHO, and UNICEF will also be incorporated. Officers of the pollution control board will be a part as bio-medical waste is a very important aspect of infection control. The committee is expected to be formed by Sunday and the teams will visit all hospitals. While the government hospitals have already given onsite training, private hospital doctors were given training on Zoom platform,” said Prasad, adding that each hospital will also have to set up a hospital infection prevention committee.

Meanwhile, King George Medical University termed the donation of plasma by two patients, including its junior resident doctor, Dr Tauseef Haider Khan, as a “historic step” in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

“Their plasma is being collected and serious COVID patients can be treated. I want to thank Tauseef and one Uma Shankar Pandey for donating the plasma,” said Vice-Chancellor Dr MLB Bhatt. Doctors at the hospital said that under plasma therapy, anti-bodies developed from recovered patients are collected and administered to patients in critical conditions. UP is the third state after Kerala and Delhi to implement plasma therapy on patients.

So far 261 patients have recovered and discharged — highest 59 from Noida, which is the only district with lesser number of active cases (54) and more number of recovered people — followed by 36 in Meerut, 29 in Lucknow, 18 in Agra, 16 in Ghaziabad, 15 in Shamli, nine in Saharanpur, eight in Sitapur, seven in Kanpur.