After a dip, some of the districts in Uttar Pradesh are now showing an upward trend in fresh daily Covid-19 cases. Meerut leads the list with 126% rise in 15 days. Other districts that have shown a rise in daily cases in two weeks are Lucknow, Prayagraj, Kanpur, Gautam Buddha Nagar, and Ghaziabad.
Expert say there are various reasons for the spike. “Meerut is a city where people in large numbers visit from other places particularly Delhi. We are studying the travel pattern, which could be one reason why cases are going up, and will soon devise a fresh strategy for Meerut,” said Dr Ved Prakash, HoD pulmonary critical care medicine department at the King George’s Medical University. Dr Prakash is also the OSD for Meerut medical college.
The number of deaths has also increased. According to the state health department data, 21 deaths were reported on November 16, 20 on November 17, 29 on November 18 and 40 were reported on November 19. The active cases in the state also increased from 21,954 on Wednesday to 22,757 on Thursday.
Additional chief secretary, health and family welfare, Amit Mohan Prasad ,said the state government has adopted a multi-pronged strategy to check the second wave of Covid-19 in the state. Along with collecting samples, increase in testing, surveillance across the state and contact tracing is being carried out to break the infection chain, he said.
In Lucknow, the lack of social distancing is stated to be a big factor behind rising cases. “People have virtually stopped following the Covid-19 protocol and hardly maintain distance when out in the market,” said Dr Abhishek Shukla, secretary general, association of international doctors.
“People going to vegetable, grocery markets are seen standing close together at shops. Wearing masks on the chin isn’t preventing infection,” said Dr PK Gupta, former president IMA, Lucknow.
The surge in cases in Delhi has led to increase in the cases in the bordering districts, including Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Meerut whereas in the remaining districts the Covid cases are under control, said additional chief secretary, information, Navneet Sehgal, and added that the state government has started random sample tests in the districts bordering Delhi.
Keeping an eye on the surge in neighbouring Delhi, the state government has sounded an alert in the neighbouring districts.People have been urged to follow the guidelines strictly.
A health department officer said the festive season leading to a sudden increase in the activities, increase in the pollution, dip in the temperature with the onset of the winter and people ignoring the Covid-19 protocol are leading to the spike.
The high recovery rate of 94.18 %, positivity rate of below 5 % and fatality rate at 1.44% are boosts for the health department in the fight against the pandemic, he said.