Covid-19: Record 9,695 cases in 24 hrs take UP’s April tally to 47k

Lucknow: The spike in Covid-19 cases continued unabated in Uttar Pradesh on Friday with record 9,695 new cases in the last 24 hours. The all-time high intraday surge took UP’s tally to 6,63,991.

Alarmed over the situation, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued a video appeal to the people urging them to follow Covid-19 prevention protocol so that viral activity can be arrested.

An assessment of the data shows that nine days of April have surpassed the total number of cases reported between January and March put together. At least 47,165 cases have been reported in the first nine days of April while the cumulative cases between January and March this year were 31,292.

The death rate has also been a cause for concern to the authorities. Against 66 and 87 deaths in February and March, respectively, the total Covid-19 casualties in April are 229. At least 37 patients lost their lives in the last 24 hours.

While Lucknow recorded maximum 14 deaths, Kanpur and Prayagraj reported three deaths each. Varanasi, Barabanki, Unnao and Firozabad recorded two casualties each while one person each died in Mathura, Deoria, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh, Gonda, Farrukhabad, Banda, Kanpur Dehat and Ambedkarnagar.

Lucknow (2,934), Prayagraj (1,016), Varanasi (845) and Kanpur (522) continued to be the biggest contributors in fresh Covid-19 cases while Gorakhpur (333), Gautam Budh Nagar (225), Jhansi (190) and Rae Bareli (145) also recorded a spike.

Only 583 people recovered from infection in the last 24 hours. Patients who are in hospitals are taking an average of seven days in recovery.

Lower recoveries against a high number of cases is putting pressure on health infrastructure and doctors and health staff are also getting infected.

This is reflecting on the surge in the number of active infections which was reported to be 48,306 on Friday. Of these, 22,904 are under home isolation. Terming the situation serious, experts urged people to follow the prevention protocol in individual and social interest.

“The risk of falling prey to complications is not limited to vulnerable groups, like elderly, those with comorbid conditions and children. The young are equally at risk especially if they are asymptomatic. Also, the young ones may also act as carriers and take infection back home. Prevention protocol must be followed by everyone,” said state surveillance officer, UP, Dr Vikasendu Agarwal.