125 fresh COVID-19 cases in UP, total count 974

With125 fresh cases, the number of people infected with the coronavirus went up to 974 in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.

According to a health department bulletin, 108 COVID-19 patients have been treated in the state so far and the number of active cases is 852.

Of the 125 cases reported on Saturday, 86 are linked to last month's Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi's Nizamuddin, the bulletin said.

The state has recorded 14 COVID-19 deaths so far -- five from Agra, two each from Moradabad and Meerut and one each from Lucknow, Kanpur, Basti, Bulandshahr and Varanasi -- the bulletin said.

Earlier in the day, Principal Secretary, Health Amit Mohan Prasad said some districts have successfully beaten the disease and "this is a positive step".

Coronavirus cases were reported from 49 of the 75 districts in the state, he said, adding that some districts have successfully flattened the curve.

"All cases in Pilibhit, Hathras and Maharajganj have been treated and similarly, Prayagraj and Bareily have also discharged all infected persons after treatment," Prasad said.

Six districts -- Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Meerut, Agra and Saharanpur -- are the main centres of the infection, while the other districts where the number of infected people was less have been able to control it effectively, he added.

Either the hotspot areas are shrinking or entire districts are becoming infection-free, Prasad said.

As of now, 1,025 people have been kept in isolation wards in the state, while the number of those in quarantine is 10,814, he said.

Prasad stressed on the need to take proper care of the aged people who have certain ailments as they are more prone to catching the infection.

Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Awanish Awasthi said it was a good news that gradually, some districts are turning out to be corona-free.

"After Pilibhit, Hathras and Maharajganj, now Prayagraj has become corona-free. Bareilly, which had only one hotspot, the district magistrate has said the cases there have been tested as negative," he said, adding that it has been possible only because of the collective efforts of employees and public cooperation.

Uttar Pradesh, with such a huge population, has lesser number of cases and the growth rate as well as the death rate in the state are also less than the national average, Awasthi said.