UP: Isolation beds tripled: 53,000 in Two weeks

According to health department officials, of the total beds, as many as 24,266 beds have been arranged by government and private medical colleges, and the rest by health department hospitals and buildings converted into Covid care centres.

At present, the state has 1,953 patients in isolation wards, translating into 3.6 per cent occupancy rate till Saturday. At least 9,003 persons are under institutional quarantine.

“Making a significant increase in our Covid treatment facilities, we now have 53,459 isolation beds,” said Principal Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad.

Meanwhile, eight more deaths on Saturday took the death toll to 74.

With an addition of 163 cases, the number reported so far has reached 3,377. Of the total cases, 1,800 are active and the rest 1,499 patients have been discharged after their recovery. Around 43 per cent of the state’s coronavirus patients have recovered compared to the national average of around 30 per cent. The state is second to Andhra Pradesh in terms of recovery rate among the 10 most-affected states.

Hamirpur, Lalitpur and Farrukhabad reported their first cases. Now only four UP districts — Ambedkar Nagar, Ballia, Chandauli and Sonbhadra — are Covid free. Five districts — Mau, Kaushambi, Shahjahanpur, Lakhimpur Kheri and Hardoi — do not have any active case.

Of the eight fresh deaths, five were reported in Agra and one each in Aligarh, Gautam Buddh Nagar and Meerut.

Of the fresh 163 cases, 37 were reported from Agra, 24 from Meerut, 20 from Jalaun, 15 from Noida, nine from Bijnor, seven from Firozabad, six each from Ghaziabad and Moradabad, five each from Mathura and Bahraich, four from Varanasi, three each from Lucknow and Chitrakoot, two each from Shamli, Basti, Hapur and Aligarh, and one each from Farrukhabad, Lalitpur, Hamirpur, Kushinagar, Kanpur Dehat, Gorakhpur, Mainpuri, Kannauj, Unnao, Bhadohi and Ghazipur.

Agra has recorded most deaths at 21 followed by 11 in Meerut, seven in Moradabad, six in Kanpur Nagar, four each in Mathura and Firozabad, three in Aligarh, two each in Jhansi, Ghaziabad and Noida, and one each in Prayagraj, Etah, Mainpuri, Bijnore, Kanpur Dehat, Amroha, Bareilly, Basti, Bulandshahar, Lucknow, Varanasi and Shravasti.

The state has so far sent 1,24,791 samples.

Agra prisoner dies 3 days after testing positive

A 60-year-old murder convict died of the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) at SN Medical College in Agra on Saturday afternoon, three days after testing positive. The prisoner had been shifted to the hospital from Agra Central Jail on May 3 after he suffered a brain stroke and his blood pressure shot up.

“The inmate, who was tested positive for coronavirus, died today during treatment at the hospital,” said Senior Jail Superintendent VK Singh.

The convict had been shifted to the Agra prison from Jhansi in December. The message of his death was being conveyed to his family in Jhansi, officials said.

After the victim tested positive earlier this week, the prison authorities isolated 14 inmates and 10 staff members as a precautionary measure. Samples of 24 jail employees and 24 inmates were collected and sent for examination. So far, 12 inmates had tested negative.

State’s first patient who got plasma dies

A 58-year-old doctor, who was UP’s first coronavirus positive patient to receive blood plasma, on Saturday died at King George’s Medical University (KGMU) in Lucknow.

However, KGMU officials claimed that the death of the doctor, a resident of Orai in Jalaun district, was not because of Covid-19 as his two consecutive samples had recently tested negative.

“The 58-year-old doctor was admitted at the KGMU corona ward and he died during treatment on Saturday. His wife also tested positive. He was the first patient who was given plasma therapy, after which his dependency on ventilator reduced. He got urinary tract infection,” read a statement.

The patient was given plasma therapy on April 27, sources said.