UP registers record rise of 372 Covid-19 deaths, adds 28,076 cases
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh on Friday saw a record single-day jump of 372 COVID-19 deaths and 28,076 fresh cases, even as a senior health ministry official said the second wave of coronavirus seemed to have crossed its peak in the state.
With the fresh fatalities and cases, Uttar Pradesh's death toll stands at 14,873 and the infection tally at 14,53,679, according to a health bulletin issued here.
While 28,076 fresh COVID-19 cases were recorded the previous day, 33,117 patients recovered from the disease, Principal Secretary, Health, Alok Kumar said.
"Currently, there are 2,54,118 active cases in the state and the number of those who have recovered stands at 11,84,688," he said.
Since April 30, when there were 3,10,783 active COVID-19 cases, the number of cases has come down by over 56,000 as recoveries have increased. It appears that the COVID wave has crossed its peak in the state, he added.
Lucknow reported the highest number of fresh cases at 1,982, followed by 1,817 in Meerut, 1,288 in Gautam Buddh Nagar, 1,122 in Saharanpur, according to the bulletin.
Kanpur reported the highest number of deaths at 31, followed by 30 in Hapur, 25 in Lucknow, 18 in Ghazipur, 16 in Hardoi, 15 in Gorakhpur, 12 each in Meerut and Gautam Buddh Nagar and 10 in Jhansi.
Over 2.42 lakh tests, including 1.27 lakh RT-PCR tests, were conducted in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. So far, over 4.26 crore samples have been tested for COVID-19 in the state, Kumar said.
Meanwhile, Additional Chief Secretary, Information, Navneet Sehgal said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath pointed out during a review meeting that COVID-19 vaccination in the state was progressing fast and more than 1.34 doses have been administered so far.
In seven districts with a high infection rate, 85,566 people in the 18-44 age group have been vaccinated.
"It is good that vaccine wastage has come down to 0.11 per cent in this age group. It further needs to be brought down to zero," Adityanath said.
The vaccination drive that was started in seven districts will be expanded to more districts from May 10, Sehgal said.
Now, potential beneficiaries who are over 45 years will also be required to pre-register for vaccination. So far, on the spot registration was allowed for people aged above 45 but due to this there were difficulties in maintaining social distancing, he said.
