Intensify surveillance, contact tracing: UP CM Yogi Adityanath to officials

To keep the Covid-19 positivity rate below five per cent and the death rate below one per cent in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday directed officials to intensify surveillance and contact tracing.

He also said that testing among high-risk groups should be intensified.

These combined endeavours are the only way to keep the Covid-19 death rate low and prevent spread of the infection, Adityanath said.

The chief minister issued the directions while reviewing the Covid-19 situation in the state, especially in 16 districts where more than 100 cases are reported within a week, a statement issued by the state government here said.

He said that testing should be focussed and one-third of testing should be through RT-PCR and the rest by the rapid-antigen method.

Adityanath pointed out that focus testing is less in Lucknow and should be increased.

Micro-containment zones should be created and these areas will be more compact than containment zones created earlier, the chief minister said.

He emphasised that the case fatality rate (CFR) should be kept under control and the district where it is more than one per cent, contact tracing and surveillance should be more aggressive.

Adityanath directed the Health and Medical Education department to make available facilities of virtual ICUs in all L-2 and L-3 hospitals.

A virtual intensive care unit (ICU) is a redesigned model of care that uses state-of-the-art technology to leverage the expertise and knowledge of experienced caregivers over a large group of patients in multiple intensive care units.