Over 4.5 cr COVID tests done, 1.5 cr people vaccinated in UP: Yogi Adityanath

Noida (UP), May 16 (PTI) Over 4.5 crore COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Uttar Pradesh so far, while 1.5 crore people have been vaccinated for coronavirus, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Sunday.

The chief minister said the state did not have "much capacity" for COVID testing till March last year but is now conducting 2.5 lakh to 3 lakh tests every day.

"On March 2, 2020, we did not have much capacity for COVID tests nor isolation beds for treatment of COVID patients in the state.

'With support from the Centre, the state government's machinery along with help from various organisations, today we are conducting 2.5 lakh to 3 lakh tests every day,” Adityanath told reporters in Noida during a visit here to review the pandemic situation.

"Over 4.5 crore COVID tests have been conducted in the state so far. The state has 80,000 hospital beds in L2 and L3 category where coronavirus positive patients can be treated," he said.

He said the Centre is providing vaccines for free to people above the age of 45 years while the state government is doing it for the people aged between 18 and 44 years.

"We have so far vaccinated 1.5 crore people in the state and continue (to do so) at war-footing as per a comprehensive strategy," Adityanath said.

He said vaccination for people aged above 45 is being done at 2,500 centres and for the 18-plus category, the government had started the vaccination process in seven districts in the first phase where active cases and positivity rate were the highest.

"In the second phase, we brought all municipal corporations on board and in the third phase, which starts tomorrow, we will begin vaccination at all headquarters of commissionaries. From tomorrow, vaccination will begin in 23 districts of the state," he added.

In the wake of suspicions being raised that the virus is spreading to rural areas, the government had implemented a comprehensive strategy for it on May 2, the chief minister said.

"We have a monitoring team in every village. Keeping 97,000 revenue villages in focus, the monitoring teams are screening people for COVID," he said.

Those who are positive or show symptoms for the infection are provided medicine kit and a data is prepared of such people which is given to the Integrated COVID Control Centre (ICCC) from where rapid response team (RRT) goes to the village and conducts tests on contact persons of the patient and makes necessary arrangements for them, he added. PTI KIS TDS TDS