Avaneesh Mishra

371 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of infected people to 9,237. The last 1,000 cases—from 8,000 to 9,000—were added in four days.

Govt's Covid data suggests Tablighis and their contacts added 490, while migrant workers 646 cases last week

Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida), which recorded the highest number of cases for the third consecutive day, has now become the second district after Agra to register more than 500 positive cases till date.

Though 10-sample pool testing is allowed, it is not being followed extensively to avoid burdening labs

The total number of active infections in the state is now 3,015, crossing the 3,000 mark for the first time. So far, 4,843 patients have been discharged.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claimed that migrant workers had recovered faster as they worked hard and had the natural capacity to fight the virus.

Though the number of Covid-19 cases in UP is less than Rajasthan – 7,445 vis-a-vis 8,365 – it has surpassed its western neighbour in terms of death toll.

According to the state health bulletin, only four districts has active infection cases in triple digits – Jaunpur highest at 129, almost all are interstate migrants — followed by 118 active cases in Rampur, 115 in Noida and 110 in Basti. Only two districts — Agra with 95 active cases and Meerut with 93 active cases – are in the 90 to 100 bracket.

When asked about the low testing among migrant workers, health officials said they were focussing only on symptomatic cases and sending the rest to home quarantine after thermal screening.

According to state authorities, there is a high recovery rate in these district because they recorded most cases in the earlier phases, providing enough time for the patients to recover from the infection.

According to data accessed by The Sunday Express, eastern Uttar Pradesh is the worst affected, with almost the entire list of positive cases in Barabanki, Basti, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Siddharthnagar, Bahraich, Sant Kabir Nagar, Ayodhya and Gonda consisting of migrants.

UP has till date reported 5,735 coronavirus cases with 232 new cases in the last 24 hours.

The items were found on the 10th day of the exercise to level the ground and remove a gangway before the construction of a Ram Temple begins.

This was the fastest addition of 1,000 new cases in the state as it took only five days to reach from 4,000 to 5,000. For the last few thousands, the average number of days to add 1,000 new cases used to be around eight to nine days.

Notably, out of the people who tested positive Wednesday, 49 are migrant workers who had returned to the district in the past few weeks.

According to state government, over 16 lakh migrants have returned to the state, most of them from highly Covid-infected states like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi.

Again the cases were not limited to hotspot districts but spread across 38 of the total 75 districts in the state.

10 lakh migrants already in, 20 lakh more expected to return; till now 60 migrants have tested positive.

Patients would be discharged from the hospitals only after their two consecutive tests come out negative.