Alarm bells ring again as Covid cases surge in Agra


(MENAFN- IANS)

Agra, Jan 9 (IANS) At least 236 new Covid-19 cases have been recorded in the last 24 hours in Uttar Pradesh's Agra, taking the overall caseload to 979 in the first six days of January 2022, officials said on Sunday.

Before January 1, as per the state health department data, the total number of Covid-positive cases was 26,761 with 25,323 recoveries and 458 deaths.

The total number of Covid samples collected was 22,33,309 with a recovery rate of 94.62 per cent. The number of people vaccinated with a single dose of vaccine is 30,20,082 while 17,37,900 people received their second vaccine dose and 25,712 adolescents between 15-18 years' age group received their first dose of vaccine.

Arrival of tourists has been severely hit and the markets are beginning to look deserted as night curfew has been enforced across Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath in a set of guidelines issued on Sunday after a meeting with senior officials, has asked the district administration to remain alert and provide adequate infrastructural support through the central command system.

The medical kits must be immediately provided and a list of phone numbers of doctors for tele-consultations will be circulated.

The District Divisional Commissioner has asked Agra and neighbouring districts of Mathura and Firozabad to formulate plans to contain the Covid-19 infection by strictly following the prescribed protocol.

In Vrindavan, half a dozen foreign devotees have been found to be Covid-positive. The district administration has asked the Bankey Bihari temple management to allow entry through online registrations.

Mathura and Firozabad have also reported rising incidence of the infection after the New Year. The Taj city has created half a dozen containment zones to isolate the Covid-positive cases.

A major worry for the district authorities is how to manage the tourists at the monuments. To avoid transmission, entry to the Taj Mahal is allowed through online registrations. However, the ticket windows are now shut.

The medical fraternity in the city is concerned at the laxity and a callous approach of the citizens who are still thronging markets without the masks.

'All precautions have been thrown to the winds. People do not realise prevention is better than cure,' lamented a senior citizen Sudhir Gupta of Vijay Nagar colony.

--IANS

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