As COVID-19 Cases Surge, Uttar Pradesh CM Directs Officials To Focus On Children’s Health

Lucknow: Following a recent spurt in coronavirus cases, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday (April 20) directed the officials to maintain utmost vigil on the health of children, especially in the NCR districts, and to create awareness about COVID-19 protocol in schools. In the last 24 hours, 103 new positive cases were reported in Gautam Buddh Nagar and 33 in Ghaziabad. The chief minister stressed on wearing face masks and vaccinating the remaining population in the National Capital Region districts (Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Meerut, Bulandshahr and Baghpat) and Lucknow.

Also Read: COVID-19: These Cities Make Masks Mandatory Yet Again As Cases Rise In India

He also directed the officials to make effective use of public address system to create awareness, a government spokesperson said.

At present, Uttar Pradesh houses 856 active cases. In the last 24 hours, 1.13 lakh tests were conducted and 170 new COVID-19 patients tested positive for the virus. In the same period, 110 people recovered from the infection.

The progress of the vaccination campaign is satisfactory but there is a need to accelerate the inoculation of children, the spokesperson said.

With over 30.86 crore COVID-19 jabs, the entire population aged above 18 has received at least one dose of the vaccine, while more than 86.69 per cent of adults have received both doses, he said.

Among adolescents in the 15-17 age group, 94.26 per cent have received the first dose. The government is also focusing on fully vaccinating young adolescents in the age group of 12-14, he said.

Also Read: Is India On A Verge Of Fourth Wave? Top Scientist Dr Gagandeep Kang Says ‘Rise In India’s Cases Not A Sign Of A New Wave’

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity,  that is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.