Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Directs Officials To Ramp Up COVID Testing Benchmark To 1 Lakh Per Day

Lucknow: After successfully conducting over 50,000 COVID-19 tests daily, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday (July 24) asked the state administration to ramp up the testing benchmark to one lakh per day. He also ordered to conduct at least 2,000 Rapid Antigen Tests in districts with more than 30 lakh population. This was informed by state’s Additional Chief Secretary Avnish Kumar Awasthi after attending a meeting with the Chief Minister and other officials.

The state has reported 2,712 new positive cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of active cases to 21,711, the state health department said on Friday.

Also Read: In Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad, Violating Coronavirus Guidelines Can Land You In A ‘Mask Ki Class’

The Chief Minister chaired a meeting on COVID-19, in which he has set the target of conducting 1 lakh tests per day in the state. He also ordered to conduct a minimum of 2,000 Rapid Antigen Tests in districts with over 30 lakh population and up to 1,000 tests in other districts, Mr Awasthi said.

Giving details about the coronavirus cases in the state, state’s Chief Secretary Health Amit Mohan Prasad said: “As many as 2,712 new positive cases were reported in the last 24 hours. The total number of active cases in the state now stands at 21,711. So far 37,712 patients have fully recovered after treatment while 1,348 patients have succumbed to the disease.”

On Thursday, 50,697 samples were tested for the virus in the state, taking the total number of samples tested in Uttar Pradesh to 17,05,348, he said.

Mr Prasad further informed that 2,879 pools of 5-5 samples and 268 pools of 10-10 samples were set up yesterday and positivity was observed in 481 out of 2,879 pools of 5-5 samples and 30 out of 323 pools of 10 samples.

The number of COVID Help Desk in the state has increased to 56,164, through these COVID-19 desks, 69,633 people with symptoms of coronavirus have been identified to date, he added.

Also Read: Uttar Pradesh To Follow Home Isolation Model Like Delhi, CM Arvind Kejriwal Takes A Bow

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. 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 highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. 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 become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.