LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh registered the highest single-day rise in COVID-19 cases as well as fatality count, with the disease claiming 129 more lives, while 30,596 fresh cases pushed its tally to 8,51,620.
Briefing reporters here, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said in the last 24 hours, 30,596 fresh COVID-19 cases were reported from the state, while 9,041 patients recovered from the disease.
He added that a total of 6,50,333 COVID-19 patients have so far recovered from the disease in the state. "With the 129 fresh fatalities, the death toll due to the viral disease rose to 9,830," the official said.
Of the 129 fresh COVID-19 deaths, 22 fatalities were reported from Lucknow, followed by 15 from Allahabad, 10 from Varanasi, eight from Kanpur, six from Etawah, five from Mathura and four each from Bareilly, Moradabad, Rae Bareli and Gonda.
Of the fresh cases, Lucknow reported 5,551 cases followed by 2,011 from Varanasi, 1,839 from Kanpur and 1,711 from Allahabad. He added that the count of active COVID-19 patients in the state stands at 1,91,457.
Prasad also informed that over 3.82 crore samples have so far been tested in the state, including over 2.36 lakh in the last 24 hours. Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel spoke to district magistrates of Lucknow, Allahabad, Varanasi and Kanpur over phone on the prevailing situation.
The Raj Bhavan said in a statement on Sunday that she was informed about the preventive measures and treatment being given to patients. The Governor said use of mask should be made mandatory for everyone, and violators should be sternly dealt with.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also asked Medical Education Minister Suresh Khanna to monitor the current situation of oxygen supply and its projected use in the next 15 days.
Adityanath, who is in self-isolation after testing positive for COVID-19, undertook a review meeting with senior officials on Sunday to ensure adequate medical grade oxygen supply in the state amid a massive surge in its demand for critical COVID-19 patients. "Uninterrupted supply of oxygen should be ensured in all the hospitals for the next 36 hours and oxygen cylinders should be regularly replaced in all districts," he said.
He said that the capacity of ICU and isolation beds in the 12 most affected districts of the state, including Lucknow, Allahabad, Moradabad, Jhansi and Kanpur, will be doubled with immediate effect. Adityanath said when the thought process will be 10 steps ahead of corona, only then there will be success in controlling it.
The chief minister also asked the medical education minister to increase the facilities at GSV Medical College, Rama Medical College and Naraina Medical College in Kanpur. Complying with the CM's order to set up 10 new oxygen plants at different locations of the state, a liquid oxygen plant of 20,000 litres has been installed at SGPGI in Lucknow.
An official statement said that the DRDO is also lending support in setting up another nine new oxygen plants. The chief minister also instructed the department of Food Safety and Drug Administration to keep a constant watch on the availability of various medicines, including Remdesivir.
He asked the health minister to keep an eye on the availability of medicines and its entire chain of supply.
Taking note of the fire incident at one of the hospitals in Chhattisgarh recently, the chief minister directed officials to test fire safety equipments at all government and private medical institutions of the state.
Meanwhile, a police station in Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh had to be closed for 48 hours on Sunday after seven personnel posted there tested positive for COVID-19, a senior officer of the force said.
Sambhal SP Chakresh Mishra said, "Seven personnel posted at the Hayatnagar police station tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. The test reports of the other policemen are yet to come. Complying with the coronavirus guidelines, the Hayatnagar police station has been closed for 48 hours. The police station is being sanitised."
He added that the work of the Hayatnagar police station is being carried out from the Sarai Tarin police station.