UP Reports Over 3,500 COVID-19 Cases, Highest Single-Day Spike

Over 1.06 lakh tests, highest in the state so far, have been conducted on Sunday. (File)

Uttar Pradesh reported its highest single-day spike of 3,505 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, taking the total to over 70,000, while 30 more fatalities pushed the death count to 1,456.

There are 26,204 active cases in the state and 42,833 patients have been discharged after treatment. The number of confirmed infections stands at 70,493, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said.

Of the fresh cases, state capital Lucknow reported 312, followed by Kanpur Nagar with 248, Allahabad with 162, Varanasi with 146, Shahjahanpur with 139, Ghazipur with 130, Jaunpur with 116 and Bareilly with 114 among others, a state bulletin said.

Six fresh fatalities were reported in Lucknow, five in Kanpur Nagar, three in Jhansi and two in Allahabad among others, it said.

Over 1.06 lakh tests, the highest in the state so far, have been conducted on Sunday, taking the total number of samples tested to over 19 lakh. The positivity rate in July has been at four per cent, according to the official.

Exhorting people to remain alert and immediately go for testing if they develop symptoms, Mr Prasad said early detection of the virus was a must to effectively tackle it.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed officials to work towards increasing the testing capacity and make arrangement for rapid antigen tests in all district hospitals.

In a meeting with senior officials, the chief minister directed the Infrastructure and Industrial Development commissioner and the additional chief secretary (Health) to visit Bareilly and Moradabad divisions and the additional chief secretary (Medical Education) and the additional chief secretary (Rural Development and Panchayati Raj) to visit Agra and Aligarh divisions on Tuesday to review the medical services, an official statement issued here said.

During the meeting, Chief Secretary RK Tiwari apprised the chief minister of the details of the review carried out by him in Kanpur, Allahabad, Mirzapur and Jhansi divisions.

Mr Adityanath asked for further strengthening of facilities in the COVID hospitals, along with availability of ventilators and oxygen and setting up of CCTV cameras in the COVID wards.

He also asked for increasing the bed capacity in L1, L2 and L3 hospitals as per the requirement, besides purchase of ventilators, if required.

The chief minister asked for continued dialogue with those in home isolation, the statement added.