Lucknow, 19 March (HS) : Under the leadership and guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the state of Uttar Pradesh has achieved significant success in the management of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The State Government has demonstrated extraordinary willpower, maturity, skill, sensitivity and collective spirit during these critical times to contain the deadly virus, which has elicited praise from the Prime Minister and the World Health Organization.
The statements were made by the Chief Minister of Uttar Preadesh Yogi Adityanath on Friday on the completion of four years of his government. He said that starting with 60 daily tests in March 2020, UP became the first state in the country to conduct 1.75 lakh corona tests per day with the setting up of a total of 234 laboratories in public and private sectors.
Besides, a total of 771 dedicated Covid hospitals of Level-1, 2 and 3 categories were opened, the CM said pointing out that the state also provided the highest number of 1.75 lakh beds for Covid patients.
It is worth mentioning here that the State Government ensured that the basic needs of labourers, daily wage earners, vendors and hawkers, who depend on their daily earnings to make both ends meet, were met. The Government provided livelihood allowance for construction workers.
During the pandemic, the Government issued a total of 12.15 lakh new ration cards between April 2020 and June 2020. During this period, eight lakh metric tonnes of food grains were distributed free of cost to the labourers. Furthermore, a relief package was given to the poor and labourers. While keeping all sugar mills in the state open during the pandemic, the Government purchased huge quantities of sugarcane from farmers in order to help them and engaged sugar mills in the production of sanitisers as well.
The Chief Minister, however, attributed the successful management of the pandemic by the state to the setting up of ICUs at some of the hospitals in each district of the state. He added that as many as 70,000 frontline workers were deployed to trace Covid patients and their contactsm in the state.
Meanwhile, vaccinations are being carried out on a large scale in the state in order to break the chain of corona infection, the CM said. UP is the first state in the country where more than three lakh health workers were vaccinated in a single day, he pointed out.
There has also been an unprecedented increase in health facilities, mainly testing capacity, bed capacity and number of ventilators in the state. Development programmes have also been accelerated.
The UP Government has set a new record by carrying out the highest number of Covid screenings and vaccinations. More than three crore people have undergone Covid screenings in the state whereas more than three million have been vaccinated so far.
The Government has laid particular emphasis on sanitisation, following Covid protocol, group testing, cold chain, helpdesk, contact tracing and vaccination since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The government provided all kinds of facilities and support to the migrant and other workers during the pandemic. It transported nearly 40 lakh migrant workers to their home districts through the buses of the Transport Corporation. The Government also provided them medical facilities and employment at the local level. Furthermore, the Government distributed ration kits to the migrant labourers and deposited Rs 1,000 to each worker’s account.
