COVID-19: Death toll in UP rises to 42, cases climb to 2,328

Lucknow, May 1 () Two more people died of coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, taking the death toll in the state to 42 and the number of cases climbed to 2,328 as 116 fresh infections were reported, a health department bulletin here said.

The deaths were reported from Moradabad and Ghaziabad districts, it said.

Agra reported the highest number of fresh cases at 29, followed by 13 each in Firozabad and Gautam Budh Nagar, 12 in Kanpur and eight in Lucknow, among others, the bulletin said.

So far, Agra has reported the maximum number of deaths due to coronavirus at 14, followed by seven in Moradabad, it said.

Five deaths have been reported in Meerut, four in Kanpur, two in Firozabad and one each in Amroha, Bareilly, Basti, Bulandshahr, Lucknow, Varanasi, Aligarh, Mathura, Shravasti and Ghaziabad, it added.

According to the bulletin, a total of 2,328 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, have been reported from 63 districts of Uttar Pradesh.

There are 1,632 active cases in the state. As many as 654 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals, it said.

Of the total cases reported in the state, 1,117 are linked to those who attended a Tabhligi Jamaat congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin area in March and their contacts.

Thousands of people had participated in the event and then travelled to various parts of the country, with many of them carrying the virus.

Earlier in the day, Principal Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said Uttar Pradesh has started pool testing, becoming the first state in the country to do so.

Stressing that there is no need for people to panic, he said those who got themselves tested and sought medical help at an early stage have responded well to treatment and recovered.

"Problems have occurred with cases which have been reported at an advanced stage," he said, appealing to people to report to authorities as soon as they notice coronavirus symptoms.

Prasad said now the daily growth rate of coronavirus infections in the state is 3 to 6 per cent.

He said the death rate in the state is also much lower than other states in terms of per 10 lakh population.

The officer said so far, 550 hospitals have been allowed to resume emergency services. A list of these hospitals will be publicised soon.

At present, more than 18,000 isolation beds and over 22,000 quarantine beds are available in the state, Prasad said. SAB DIVDIV