607 new cases push UP's Covid-19 tally to 21,787

LUCKNOW: As many as 607 new Covid-19 cases were reported in the state on Saturday. With this, the Covid tally for Uttar Pradesh reached 21,787.
Of the new cases, a total 284 or 47% were from the six districts of Meerut division. As per the official bulletin, Gautam Budh Nagar saw 127 cases, followed by Ghaziabad where 69 cases were recorded. Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahr and Baghpat saw 35, 22,16 and 15 cases respectively.
“Of the total, 14,215 patients have been discharged, which means that the number of persons recovered in UP is 65.9%,” additional chief secretary, health and family welfare, Amit Mohan Prasad said, adding that the number of active infections in the state was 6,685.
As many as 19 persons succumbed to the pandemic infection, taking the total number of Covid casualties to 649. Three of the 19 deaths were reported in Lucknow, while two were in Jhansi. Districts of Agra, Meerut, Gautam Budh Nagar, Firozabad, Moradabad, Varanasi, Basti, Bijnor, Pratapgarh, Bareilly, Balrampur, Unnao and Baghpat recorded one death each.
Prasad said that antigen testing had begun in the state with six districts in Meerut division, besides Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj and Varanasi. Samples from Kanpur will be collected from Sunday.
“As many as 826 persons were tested through the rapid antigen testing of whom 26 were found positive,” Prasad said.
The other districts with double digit entries included: Lucknow (35), Kanpur (21), Sambhal (16), Ayodhya (15), Jhansi (15), Aligarh (14), Bareilly (13), Moradabad (11), Prayagraj (11) and Mainpuri (11).
Health officials stated that surveillance activities continued in the state in full swing. “Asha workers have screened over 18 lakh migrant workers in the state of whom 1,648 showed flu like symptoms. Upon testing, 17% of the symptomatic migrants tested positive,” he said.