UP Chief Secretary’s office staff quarantined after one tests Covid-19+

Medical experts said the Uttar Pradesh government will have to come out with a revamped strategy to combat Covid-19 after half the state capital Lucknow came under containment zones.

Staff at the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary’s office was sent into quarantine after a data entry operator tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday. The campus was sanitised and the contact tracing of this operator and other employees had begun, the Chief Ministers’ office (CMO) said.

A team of health workers in PPE arrive to collect swab samples for Covid-19 test, Gomti Nagar in Lucknow,. (Dheeraj Dhawan/HT PHOTO)

A clerk at the Lucknow Municipal Corporation’s office near Utrethia (in zone 8) also tested positive. He was dealing directly with the public as he used to deposit house tax.

Medical experts said the government will have to come out with a revamped strategy to combat Covid-19.

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“The number of containment zones in Lucknow has risen to 111, bringing half of the city under the coverage of corona. We need to think beyond what we have done so far,” said Dr PK Gupta of the Indian Medical Association.

“A week ago, the number of containment zones in the state capital was around 50. But now the number has shot up and that’s why a revamp in strategy is required,” said Gupta.

She added, “There is a need to periodically sanitise all the areas of the city. We must also develop a mechanism to deliver essential goods at people’s doorsteps so that they do not have to venture out frequently.”

Director of Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences professor RK Dheeman said, “In containment zones, entry and exit points must be monitored by the police more strictly to contain the spread of the disease.”