2 more die of COVID-19 in UP, total cases climbs to 773

Lucknow, Apr 16 () Uttar Pradesh reported 46 fresh coronavirus cases and two fatalities on Thursday, taking the total number of COVID-19 patients to 773 and the death toll in the state to 13, an official said.

"The number of coronavirus positive cases in the state are 773 in 48 districts. Thirteen deaths have been reported due to the virus while 69 patients have been treated and discharged," Principal Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters here.

Among the 13 deaths, maximum five are from Agra, two from Moradabad and one each from Lucknow, Kanpur, Basti, Meerut, Bulanshahr and Varanasi, sources said.

Prasad said the government has decided to conduct "death audit" of all the ccoronavirus patients, who could not survive, to have a better understanding in dealing with such cases in the future.

Prasad said those who had died mostly include elderly persons or those who had some prior medical conditions.

The government has started pool testing, which is being done for the first tiime in the country in Uttar Pradesh, he said.

"We conducted 30 tests from people outside containment zone of Agra and all of them were negative. The number of testing will be increased in future," he added. ABN TDSTDS