UP: 592 new Covid cases, 22 more deaths

Of the fresh cases, Hapur recorded the highest at 65 followed by Kanpur Nagar (59), Gautam Buddh Nagar (41) and Ghaziabad (40). On Friday, Gautam Buddh Nagar had recorded 151 fresh cases.

The superintendent in-charge of government-run Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College in Gorakpur was among the new coronavirus patients. He had high fever and difficulty breathing for the past four days, Principal Ganesh Kumar said. People who came in contact with him are being tracked, Kumar said. According to sources, samples of more than 40 people, including doctors and health workers, have been taken for testing.

Of the 22 fresh deaths, Meerut saw five, and Kanpur Nagar, Ghaziabad, Varanasi and Hapur two each.

The state has a total of 6,297 active cases. Gautam Buddh Nagar had 690 active cases — the highest in the state. It was followed by Kanpur Nagar with 386 and Lucknow with 329.

As many as 14,048 samples were tested on Friday taking the total to 5,45,552.

Focus shifts to districts closer to Delhi

At a Team-11 meeting at his residence here, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stressed on the need to focus more on districts under the National Capital Region. Noida and Ghaziabad are among the worst hit districts in the state.

At a press briefing here on Saturday, Principal Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said officials have been directed to increase random testing to “assess the actual position of the Covid -19 spread”. He directed officials to set up Covid helpdesks in all hospitals. He added that ASHA workers have tracked over 17,000 people. Samples of 1,567 of them have been sent for testing, he said.

Prasad said that random testing was being carried out in old age homes, orphanages and juvenile homes on the directions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Covid-19 cases have been found in old-age homes in Sultanpur, Kushinagar and Jalaun districts and in orphanages and juvenile homes in Meerut and Kanpur.

‘87,000 migrant workers sent back’

The Uttar Pradesh government has so far sent over 87,000 labourers, including brick kiln workers, to their native states in 56 trains, Additional chief secretary (home) Awanish Awasthi said.

“The state government has so far sent 87,272 brick kiln workers and labourers to their native states by trains,” he said.

As many as 17 trains have taken 30,403 workers to Chhattisgarh, 26 trains have taken 44,560 workers to Bihar, four trains have taken 6,756 labourers to Odisha and three trains have taken 5,553 workers to Jharkhand, he said.

On Saturday, six trains departed from Uttar Pradesh — four to Bihar and one each to Chhattisgarh and Odisha, he said.

The special trains are being operated primarily on the request of states, which want to send migrant workers stranded due to the COVID-19 lockdown to their native places.

With PTI inputs