Uttarakhand Health Minister says testing in the state won't be reduced

After the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary released an order to discontinue the practice of testing tourists for COVID-19 at the state's border and railway stations, Health Minister Dhan Singh Rawat said on Tuesday that the chief secretary's order is not the state government's decision. He further added that there will be no reduction in testing in the state.

Rawat said, "There is a need to be careful in times of Coronavirus pandemic, so there will be no reduction in testing by the government. The government will once again reconsider whether or not we should remove the testing booths established in the border areas.”

Uttarakhand State Health Minister further said, "The decision to stop testing on the border is not of the government. If the Chief Secretary has made any such order, then we will also talk to him and it will be discussed in the cabinet.” Rawat continued, "The first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine has been administered to everyone in the state and the second dose has also been administered to almost 60 per cent of the residents. During the Chardham Yatra, the government had started the work of testing at the border, Chardham Yatra has now ended and there are zero cases in ten districts of the state."

Rawat said that the state cannot afford to reduce testing as the covid-19 cases are on a rise, both in the country and across the globe in general. He said, "The government will take a decision after considering everything. The cases of novel coronavirus are increasing in the whole country and in many states, so there will be no reduction in the testing of the Covid-19 by the government in Uttarakhand.”

COVID-19 situation in the country

India reported a total of 7,579 fresh cases of COVID-19, the lowest in 543 days along with 236 deaths. According to data released by the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday, there were 12,202 recoveries, which brought the recovery rate to roughly 98.32%, the highest since March 2020. The overall number of active COVID-19 cases in India has dropped to 1,13,584 and the cumulative tally of recovered patients is 3,39,46,749. The tally of the deaths in the country is now 4,65,662.

(with inputs from ANI)