LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the officials concerned to prepare a work plan to deal with challenges posed by COVID-19 in the western districts of the state.
The chief minister asked the officials to prepare the work plan by Wednesday evening, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said.
He asked them to prepare the work plan for the western districts of the state including Meerut, Ghaziabad, Noida (Gautam Buddha Nagar district), Hapur, Bulandshahr and Baghpat, and to pay special attention on medical institutes -- both government and private, Awasthi said.
The state, while confronting the coronavirus, had earlier faced challenges posed first by the 'Jamaatis', and then of the infection, followed by the one of over 35 to 36 lakh migrant workers and labourers returning to Uttar Pradesh, Awasthi said.
He said the state overcame all challenges with the help of multi-layered testing. The Tablighi Jamaat had held a congregation of its members in Delhi in March.
Many of the members returned to their homes across the country, carrying the coronavirus infection.
Uttar Pradesh was among the states which quarantined a large number of them after the event in March.
Awasthi said the challenge, now, is of western districts where senior IAS officers and medical department officials have been sent by the government.
He said the chief minister has directed the chief secretary and the principal secretary (health) to review the medical facilities of these districts and increase the number of medical staff, if required.
While reviewing the 'Unlock' arrangements, the chief minister has expressed concern over the infection which is coming in the state from outside and has directed for increasing the hospital bed capacity in western districts and further strengthening the surveillance arrangements for checking the spread of infection, Awasthi said.
The chief minister also reviewed the emergency services in the non-COVID hospitals and proper testing.
He has asked for using public address system for creating awareness and apprising the public about the infection and precautions necessary to check its spread, Awasthi said.
So far, 1,651 Shramik Special trains have brought back migrant labourers and workers to their homes in Uttar Pradesh from different states while 31 trains have taken the workers and labourers engaged in brick kilns of the state to their native places, Awasthi said.
Arrangements are being made for 47 more trains to take such brick kiln workers to their native states, he added.