Biggest single-day coronavirus spike in UP: 24 deaths, 478 new cases

Uttar Pradesh on Thursday reported 24 more coronavirus deaths and 478 new cases, the biggest single-day spike in both numbers so far as the state battles a COVID-19 surge.The death toll in the state now is 345, after three consecutive days of record highs, with the coronavirus tally reaching 12,088.Principal Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad said 7,292 of the total infected have recovered.

Uttar Pradesh on Thursday reported 24 more coronavirus deaths and 478 new cases, the biggest single-day spike in both numbers so far as the state battles a COVID-19 surge. The death toll in the state now is 345, after three consecutive days of record highs, with the coronavirus tally reaching 12,088.

Principal Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad said 7,292 of the total infected have recovered. The state has 4,451 active COVID-19 cases. He said 15,079 tests were conducted in UP on Wednesday, which is so far the highest in the state. Prasad said accredited social health activists (ASHAs) were visiting villages to trace migrants who have returned from other parts of the country and till now over 15 lakh migrant workers have been tracked. Samples of those who had symptoms of the dreaded virus have been sent for testing, he said.

The state government's 1.15 lakh surveillance teams have surveyed 88 lakh homes, the principal secretary said, adding that Aarogya Setu mobile application is also being used to track suspected patients. "Acting on alerts generated by the app, 71,736 people were called for testing, of them 155 were found positive for coronavirus and they are undergoing treatment, while 3,289 people are in quarantine," he said.

Friday onwards, the health department will start targeted sampling and take random samples from old age homes, juvenile homes, orphanage, hospitals, pharmacists, delivery boys, hospital staff and others "to find the ground reality", the principal secretary said..