E-Paper
UP: Covid cases in rural areas a cause for concern
CMOs asked to conduct random tests, DMs directed to implement protocol strictly.
Reports of Covid-19 cases from the state’s rural hinterland has caused concern among state health department experts and officers.
Principal secretary, health and family welfare, Amit Mohan Prasad said preliminary reports from districts indicated that fresh Covid cases were reported after the arrival of migrant workers from various states. The health department directed chief medical officers to conduct random tests to find out whether coronavirus was spreading in these areas, he said.
A majority of the fresh cases are being reported from districts with a large rural population, including Sant Kabir Nagar, Basti, Banda, Gonda, Bahraich, Jalaun, Siddharth Nagar, Farrukhabad, Jhansi, Bijnor, Sambhal, Pratapgarh, Mainpuri and Hathras. Till mid-March, a majority of these districts were free from the coronavirus.
A health department officer said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is conducting random tests to study the spread of the Sars-Cov-2 infection among people residing in the rural areas of the state.
The respective districts’ administration have been directed to implement the Covid protocol strictly in view of the arrival of a large number of migrant workers.
Officials have also been told to conduct thermal screening of the migrants and send the samples of those with symptoms for tests. The remaining migrants will be sent to 21 days’ home quarantine. If the sample tests positive, the infected migrant will be admitted in the isolation ward of a hospital. Even if the test is negative, the migrant will be admitted in a quarantine facility. After nine days, his sample will be sent for another test. If the second report is also negative, the migrant will be sent to home quarantine, he said.
Meanwhile, the recovery rate of infected patients has boosted the health department’s morale. The tally of active Covid patients in the state was 1,744 whereas 1,902 patients had been discharged from hospital after recovery, the principal secretary said.
Till the first week of April, the maximum Covid cases were from the urban hubs of Noida, Ghaziabad, Agra, Meerut, Kanpur and Lucknow. Cases were also reported from the manufacturing centres of Firozabad, Varanasi, Moradabad, Aligarh, Mathura, Hapur and Saharanpur.
To check the spread of the disease, the health department identified hot spots in the urban areas, from where the maximum cases were reported. Soon, containment measures were put in place in the districts and towns. The strategy paid dividends as the health department managed to check a spike in cases in most places, expect Agra, Meerut and Kanpur.
After the start of the third phase of the lockdown on May 4, the state government permitted the start of economic activity in districts categorised as orange or green.
