UP Corona count: 29 deaths, 1,659 fresh cases

Lucknow, Jul 15 () Twenty-nine persons died of COVID-19 while 1,659 more tested positive for the disease in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, raising the fatalities to 1,012 and number of infected cases to 41,383 in the state.

"In the past 24 hours, 1,659 fresh cases of COVID-19 and 29 deaths were reported," Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters.

The state now has 14,628 active cases as while 25,743 patients have recovered, he added.

Till Tuesday the maximum 95 deaths in the state were reported from Agra, followed by Meerut and Kanpur, which witnessed 93 and 90 deaths respectively.

Prasad said over 12.77 lakh samples have been tested in the state so far while a record 45,203 samples were tested on Tuesday.

He said in UP "first 6 lakh tests were done in four months with total 6,03,390 tests till June 24 while the next 6.28 lakh tests were conducted over the next 20 days from June till date".

After Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, UP now is at third place in testing for COVID-19, he said, adding the state has a lesser number of Corona cases per million population.

The testing facility will soon be increased to 50,000 per day, he said. ABN RAX RAX