Uttar Pradesh: Medical colleges in Noida, Meerut asked to return 'inferior quality' PPE

Recently, medical workers from Uttar Pradesh who are at the forefront in the battle against COVID-19 have complained about the 'inferior quality' of medical equipment provided to them. According to reports, after medical government colleges in Meerut and Noida complained about the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) failing to meet the safety standards, the institutes have been asked to return the kits.

Kits supplied by UPSDC

The reports state that the Director-General of Medical Education (DGME), Uttar Pradesh has written to 24 other state medical colleges and institutes to not use PPEs which are not up to the standard and return them immediately. The kits were supplied through UP Medical Supplies and Drug Corporation (UPSDC), which has contradicted the claim and said that the same kits were used for swine flu treatment.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh has become the first state in India to start pool testing for COVID-19 infection. The state health department has tested 30 pools of five samples in Agra, one of the COVID-19 hotspots in the country and all tested negative, news agency ANI reported quoting UP Principal Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad on Thursday.

There are as many as 14 testing labs in the state and all of them are conducting a test of over 2,000 samples every day, the report further stated. The Yogi Adityanath government has also come down heavily on people who have violated the lockdown norms. The Saharanpur district administration has filed FIRs against four relatives of Maulana Saad, who is the chief of Tablighi Jamat in India after they hid their details although appealed by the district administration, ANI quoted Saharanpur DM as saying.

Coronavirus pandemic in India

Two more persons died of COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday while 78 people tested positive for Coronavirus infection, taking the total fatalities in the state to 13 and active cases to 805, an official statement said. Among the fresh cases reported on Thursday, 43 are from Tablighi Jamaat met participants, the statement said.

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With 1,007 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, India's coronavirus tally crossed the 13,000 mark with the tally reading at 13,387 cases, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in its latest update on Friday. Out of the total tally, 11,201 patients are active cases while 1,789 patients have been cured, discharged and migrated. With 23 more deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the death toll has risen to 437.

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(With Agency inputs)