Continuous decline in cases in UP; daily test positivity rate at 0.8%: Govt

The daily Covid test positivity rate is under one per cent and there has been a continuous decline in fresh cases in Uttar Pradesh, the government said on Saturday, attributing the decreases to aggressive testing, tracing and treatment, and restrictions imposed in the state.

Uttar Pradesh recorded 2,287 new cases on Saturday, while it was 2,402 on Friday, 3,278 on Thursday, 3,371 on Wednesday and 3,957 on Tuesday.

The recovery rate in the state stands at 96.10 per cent, the Uttar Pradesh government said in a statement.

The state's COVID-19 graph continues to show a declining trend with 2,287 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours, the lowest daily spike from the peak (38,055 on April 24) last month, it said.

The fresh cases have pushed Uttar Pradesh's active COVID-19 cases to 46,201, the statement said.

It said that 7,902 Covid patients have recovered and have been discharged from health facilities in the last 24 hours, and the total recoveries now stand at 16,21,743.

Recoveries outnumbering daily cases have ensured a high recovery rate, and the state has recorded a recovery rate at a significant 96.10 per cent, the statement said.

The Uttar Pradesh government has followed the '3T' formula of 'tracing, testing and treatment' to aggressively tackle the rise in cases in both urban and rural areas, it said.

The state has conducted 3,30,289 Covid tests in the last 24 hours and out of these tests, 1,54,000 were done through swab samples subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing.

The daily test positivity rate (TPR) is 0.8 per cent, below one per cent for the four consecutive day, the statement said.

Over 4.87 crore tests have been conducted till now, and this is the highest in the country, it said.

Ramping up of daily testing, timely detection of mutated strains of SARS-CoV-2, helped in the fight against the second wave, the state government said.

Regular distribution of medicine kits, tele-consultation and calls from the Integrated Covid Command and Control Centre to home-isolated patients was ensured and their numbers stand at 26,187, it said.

So far, 1,76,67,710 doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the 45 years and above category.

The statement said that around 34,24,355 people in the state have received both doses of vaccine, while 1,42,43,355 people have taken the first dose.

Till the 28th day of the vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group, more than 18,22,375 people have been administered doses.

On Friday, around 1,52,445 people received their shots of anti-COVID vaccine in this category, the statement said.