Uttar Pradesh is adding Covid-19 cases at an alarming clip as India's most populous state recorded nearly 2.5 lakh new cases between April 18 and April 25.
The state, which reported 37,944 new cases on Saturday, has a total of 2.88 lakh active cases and has reported 10,959 deaths so far, statistics that prompted the Allahabad High Court to order lockdowns in five cities but which the Yogi government refused to implement.
The Covid situation in the state went downhill quite quickly. On April 1, the state had reported 1,198 new cases of the highly contagious disease and 11 deaths. But the situation worsened and the 10,000 mark in daily cases was breached on April 12, when the state reported 12,748 new cases.
With 2,88,144 active cases, Uttar Pradesh is ranked number two after Maharashtra, which has 6,96,298 active cases of Covid-19.
On April 18, the state had reported 27,334 fresh cases and the rise has been steady this past week, with a slight dip reported on April 24 when 22,566 fresh cases were recorded.
On Sunday, the state reported 35,614 new cases of Covid-19 as against 37,944 on Saturday. The number of patients recovered from Covid-19 on Sunday was 25,633 as against 23,231 on Saturday.
This prompted a sanguine assessment from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
“It is clear that the infection rate is on a decline and the recovery rate is increasing,” Adityanath said on Sunday.
Adityanath also directed offices across districts to call employees in shifts and ensure no more than 50% attendance at any given time.
Karnataka, Kerala and Delhi are the other states that have been reporting more than 20,000 cases every day.
As per the Health Ministry figures, 10 states -- Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan -- had reported 74.53% of the new cases on Sunday.
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