LUCKNOW: Amid an ongoing surge in new COVID-19 cases, the Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday stressed on strict compliance of new guidelines, including closure of all schools up to Class 10 till January 16.
As many as 2,038 fresh Covid cases were detected in the state on Wednesday, up from 992 on Tuesday.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a high-level meeting to review the situation and directed the officials to declare holiday in all schools up to Class 10 till January 16, an official spokesperson said.
Students of classes 11-12 should be called to school only for vaccination purposes and given holiday on the vaccination day and the next day.
Their classes should be conducted through online mode only, the official said.
Over 4,60,000 adolescents have received their first Covid vaccine shot under the drive to inoculate those in the 15-18 age group in the state, he said.
The state government had on Tuesday issued new guidelines, extending night curfew by two hours from 10 pm to 6 am from Thursday and closure of schools up to Class 10 till Makar Sankranti among others.
As the state reported 2,038 new cases of the disease, it recorded 51 recoveries as well.
The total number of active COVID-19 cases in the state now stands at 5,158, the spokesperson said.
The highest number of new cases in the state during the past 24 hours was reported from Gautam Buddh Nagar (511), followed Lucknow (288), Ghaziabad (255) and Meerut (110), a health department statement said, adding that no fresh death has been reported.
The infection tally in the state not stands at 16,88,058 and over 937 crore Covid tests have been done so far.
There has been an increase in new cases of coronavirus in the state.
Vaccination is going on smoothly in the state, the official said, adding that more than 13 crore people above the age of 18 have received the first dose, while over than 7.58 crore have taken both doses.
The health authorities here have set up nine mobile units to keep tabs on patients isolated at home due to coronavirus, an official said on Wednesday.
According to the district Health Department, 98 per cent of active patients here are in home isolation.
These patients have few or no symptoms of the infection.
In such a situation, according to guidelines of the government, such patients have been instructed to stay in isolation at home.
Health feedback is obtained from these patients on a regular basis by the Health Department and the department has now formed nine mobile health teams to monitor such patients.
Apart from doctors, pharmacists and ANM's have been included in these teams, CMO Dr Virender Yadav said.
"The mobile teams will better monitor these patients. The work of the teams will be to ensure that patients follow the rules of home isolation," said the CMO.
Apart from this, these teams will also go to the homes of the infected people to give them medical advice and provide medicines, if needed.
These teams have been assigned the responsibility of different areas, he added.
The number of active COVID-19 cases has crossed the 1,000-mark in Gautam Buddh Nagar, the district administration said on Wednesday, as it announced tougher restrictions like extension of night curfew.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday ordered additional restrictions to be automatically enforced in districts where the number of cases go beyond 1,000.
Currently, Gautam Buddh Nagar, which includes Noida and Greater Noida, is the only district with over 1,000 active cases of the disease.
"There has been a rise in cases of coronavirus recently. The number of cases in Gautam Buddh Nagar has crossed the 1,000 figure today. The restrictions mandated by the Uttar Pradesh government will be implemented here from tomorrow," District Magistrate Suhas L Yathiraj said.
Officials in the district have consulted health experts in view of a third wave of the pandemic, and the rise in the number of cases has been quick, he told reporters here.
"However, the number of patients who need oxygen support or hospitalisation has been very low," the DM said.
Regarding the restrictions that will be enforced in Gautam Buddh Nagar from Thursday, he said night curfew would be enforced from 10 pm-6 am instead of the earlier 11 pm-5 am.
"A campaign will be run across the district to ensure the policy of 'No Mask, No Shopping' is followed. The objective is to raise awareness among the public of Covid-appropriate behaviour," the DM said.
A maximum 100 people will be allowed at any event, like weddings, in covered halls while the limit will be 50 per cent of total capacity in open areas, he said.
Physical classes up to 10th standard in all schools will remain suspended till January 14, he said.
Restaurants, cinema halls, etc will also function at 50 per cent of its full capacity during the period, he added.
"No commercial activities will be stopped and they will not require any special pass for their work or transport. The transportation would also continue like before," Yathiraj said.
However, all institutes should set up COVID-19 help desk, which will enable provision of any information related to coronavirus for people, he said.
Yathiraj said the Integrated Covid Command Centre (ICCC) is active 24 hours a day and the district administration is in constant touch with resident welfare associations and apartment owners associations regarding any case of COVID-19 patient.
He added that the capacity at the ICCC control room18004192211has been increased to address more queries.
Monitoring cells have also been activated to provide immediate support to any person in need, he said, adding the ICCC can be contacted at 18004192211 and anyone in need can get details about vaccination, hospitalisation or even telephonic consultation with doctors.
The rate of transmission of the virus in this new wave is high but symptoms or need for hospitalisation among patients is low, the official said.
"If we look at the figures in the district only, we have 1,110 active cases today of which no one is in a condition for additional oxygen support. If we look at our COVID-19 hospitals, we have 400 patients there which include some foreign-returnees and some people who do not have adequate facilities for home isolation," Yathiraj said.
"No patient currently is in ICU. There are a few but those are only the cases with co-morbidities," he added.
Covid-19 sampling in Gautam Buddh Nagar, he claimed, is among the highest for any district in the national capital region.
He said the sampling size if 3,000 to 4,000 per million population per day in the district.
Yesterday itself, 7,500 samples were taken only by government facilities in the district which include both antigen-based tests and RT-PCR tests, he said.
The positivity rate in antigen tests ranges from 0.5 per cent to 2 per cent on some days, while that of RT-PCR tests ranges from 4 per cent to 7 per cent.
"The figures fluctuate and we look at the weekly figures. Generally, the positivity rate of RT-PCR tests remains three to four times higher than antigen-based tests," Yathiraj said.
He said a successful measure against the infection would be early tracing and isolation of the infected person, noting that on an average 18 contacts of an infected person are traced in Gautam Buddh Nagar but the health department has been instructed to take this number to up to 25.