UP increasing testing centres for COVID-19: Adityanath

Lucknow, Apr 7 () Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said the government is ramping up the number of COVID-19 testing centres in the state, including at the district level, as the coronavirus cases have increased rapidly over the past few days.

He said 308 COVID-19 cases have been found in the state "as of now", of which 168 are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Delhi last month.

The cases are spread over several districts such as Lucknow, Agra, Mathura, Kanpur and Allahabad, according to a bulletin released by the government.

"In Uttar Pradesh, for the past 4-5 days, there has been a rise in the number of cases... Every step is being taken by the state government in association with the Centre to stop the spread of the infectious disease," Adityanath assured.

When the first coronavirus case was first reported in the state, he said, there was not a single testing laboratory in UP. "Today with the help of the Centre, 10 testing laboratories are successfully working."

There has been a demand for expanding the number of testing centres from various quarters, including opposition leaders.

The chief minister said the government has decided to establish testing labs at the district hospital of every divisional headquarter and a team under the principal secretary has been constituted for this.

There are 24 government medical colleges in the state. In 10 of these, we have testing labs. Instructions have been issued to upgrade them, and in 14 medical colleges where there is no testing facility for COVID-19, testing facility will be established," he said.

"In UP, there are six divisional headquarters, where there are no government medical colleges. The state government will establish testing laboratories in these districts. The laboratories will be setup in Gonda, Mirzapur, Bareilly, Moradabad and Aligarh. In Varanasi division, there is a laboratory in BHU hospital, but we have started the work to establish a lab in a hospital there."

He said the UP government has established a "COVID Care Fund", and it is getting support from public representatives and the general public.

"The fund will be used to expand testing and treatment facilities. The government is already working to boost the manufacturing units of PPE, N95 masks, triple-layer masks, thermal analysers, ventilators and other equipment," he said.

"I am confident that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is completely protected from this global pandemic," Adityanath said.

He said Lucknow is very important for the better health and secured future of the 130 crore countrymen and urged people to "accept the lockdown in a disciplined manner".

He reiterated that the government will not leave "any stone unturned" to ensure no one faces hardship.

The Union government imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 25 for 21days to curb the spread of the deadly virus. The chief minister has hinted that Uttar Pradesh will gradually exit the lockdown and has sought cooperation of people. NAV ABHABH