Lucknow: Sustained, organised and coordinated efforts, coupled with micro planning and alertness resulted in controlling the spread of the covid-19 in the most populous state, said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath while releasing IIT Kanpur’s study on UP government’s handling of the pandemic.
“Despite facing numerous challenges in terms of huge population, lack of resources and reverse migration of workers, Uttar Pradesh’s pandemic response, today, is serving as a ‘model’ for various states and even countries,” stated the Chief Minister here on Monday.
The study, prepared by a team of experts from IIT-Kanpur led by Manindra Agarwal, encompasses Yogi Adityanath-led UP government’s handling of the second wave of COVID-19, lauding its strategies to check the spread of infection.
The detailed study by the researchers, also throws light on the steps taken by the state government to mitigate the impact of the economic crisis during the reverse migration of over 40 lakh migrant workers, praising the Yogi Adityanath government in the state for providing employment to the migrant workers.
The report also highlights that the state government arranged free bus services for returning workers and ambulance services for sick workers. It also stressed that MGNREGA was used for job creation and local self-governing bodies utilised worker database for employment cards.
Expressing gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his guidance and support throughout the pandemic, the Chief Minister said, “Had the health and medical infrastructure not been expanded and strengthened under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the country would not have been able to fight the pandemic in the way it has.”
Underlining UP’s progress in terms of presence of medical resources, the CM stated, “Uttar Pradesh not only worked to save lives, but also continued to expand the presence of medical resources within the state. From getting the first covid test conducted at NIV, Pune in 2020 to crossing the milestone of conducting 8 crore tests today in UP, the state is moving towards becoming self-reliant in every way.”
Testing is the backbone for curbing the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 as it helps timely detection of cases and their isolation and contact tracing. A widely deployed and efficient testing strategy in Uttar Pradesh has helped in limiting the spread of new cases. Daily testing capacity in the state has been increased from 72 tests to over 4 lakh tests a day, added the CM.
Launching a scathing attack at the opposition for perpetrating negative politics even in times of crisis, the CM asserted that, “In a sharp contrast to other states that continued to depend on the centre for supply of medical oxygen, Uttar Pradesh worked on a war-footing to ensure presence of oxygen in abundance. As a result, over 500 oxygen producing plants have been set up across the state at various medical colleges and hospitals.”
The CM went on to say that Uttar Pradesh has been benefiting under Prime Minister Modi’s guidance in the fight against the virus from the beginning, and resultantly has been conducting the vaccination drive in a planned and swift manner.
“Uttar Pradesh is the only state to have administered over 38 lakh vaccine doses in a single day. The state has provided the ‘protective shield’ to over 11.5 crore people and will continue to ramp up the vaccination drive with the aim of vaccinating the entire eligible adult population,” he added.
Praising the efforts of the Uttar Pradesh government in controlling the spread of the pandemic, Dr V K Paul, member of the Union Government's core team for Covid-19 pandemic response said, “there could have been more than 70,000 cases per day in Uttar Pradesh during the second wave, due to the proactive measures implemented by the state government, the spread was controlled in the densely populated state.”
“With more than 240, 000, 000 citizens, Uttar Pradesh, the most densely populated state in India has risen to its unique challenges to overcome the COVID-19 situation which has gripped the entire world today. The state has demonstrated strong leadership, effective governance, and commitment, throughout this pandemic, and led by example,” said Dr Vinod K Paul, Chairman National Task Force on Covid-19 and member, NITI Aayog.
Formation of Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) and surveillance committees carried out the extensive exercise of door-to-door screening, eliminating the risk of increased transmission of the virus and also helped in breaking the covid chain as a result of which the fresh cases, today, have been brought down from a high of 38,000 to less than 15, he added. (UNI)