Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in the country, has recorded 13,604 COVID19 cases in the last 24 hours. Last week, on April 6, the state recorded only 3,974 new cases. This means the new cases have slightly more than tripled in the state in seven days.

Meanwhile, the state has also registered a huge spike in daily COVID19 deaths, from 13 daily deaths on April 6 to 72 deaths today on April 13. This is a five times upsurge in daily deaths.

However, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said yesterday that the state government would not impose a lockdown as a measure to impede the spread of the coronavirus infection.

“Neither the government will impose another lockdown nor let the people die in misery. It is the officials’ responsibility to ensure beforehand that there is no shortage of hospital beds for the patients in the state,” Adityanath was quoted as saying in a press statement.

Also Read: Will neither impose lockdown nor let people die in misery: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi

Uttar Pradesh has surpassed Chhattisgarh and Karnataka in reporting the highest daily corona cases, second only to Maharashtra, which continues to report the highest daily numbers in the country.

Maharashtra reported 51,751 daily new COVID cases in the last 24 hours. It was followed by Uttar Pradesh (13,604), Chhattisgarh (13,576), Delhi (11,491), Karnataka (9,579), and Tamil Nadu (6,711).

Last week, on April 6, Maharashtra had reported 47,288 new daily COVID cases. It was followed by Chhattisgarh (7,302), Karnataka (5,279), Uttar Pradesh (3,974), Tamil Nadu (3,672), and Delhi (3,548).

Uttar Pradesh has surpassed five states in terms of daily coronavirus deaths. Yesterday, the chief minister said: “Our priority has to be the implementation of an effective strategy to stop the spread of COVID-19. We will have to fight the pandemic vigorously with full preparation, as there is no scope for any sort of negligence in this fight.”

He has also instructed the officials to dedicate half of the emergency ambulance services for COVID19 patients and pitched for the expansion of laboratories and testing capabilities and instructed the officials to increase the RT-PCR test capacity by 70 per cent.

Meanwhile, West Bengal, a hotspot of political rallies and roadshows, has recorded the highest spike in daily COVID cases in the last 24 hours, at 4,511. Daily cases in the state have doubled since last week.

Sixteen states have shown an upward trajectory in daily new cases. These include Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttarakhand, West Bengal. This data was shared by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare today.

Amid the upsurge in COVID cases, the national recovery rate has also dropped. As of today, the national recovery rate is 89.51 per cent. Last week, the national recovery rate was 92.48 per cent.

Meanwhile, 161,736 new cases were registered in the last 24 hours in the country; 879 deaths were reported. Ten states account for 88.05 per cent of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties at 258. Chhattisgarh followed with 132 daily deaths.