Amid rising cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID19) in India, including Uttar Pradesh, country’s most populous state with 240 million population, the state government has declared that “the whole of the State of Uttar Pradesh is effected (sic) by COVID-19”. To contain the spread of coronavirus, the state government has extended the Uttar Pradesh Public Health and Epidemic Diseases Control Act, 2020, across the state till June 30 this year.

Amit Mohan Prasad, additional health secretary, issued a notification to this effect yesterday on March 31. This act was in force in the state till March 31 and has now been extended till June-end.

India is facing a surge in corona cases, being termed as a ‘second wave’, with 72,330 new cases registered in the last 24 hours. The central government has identified eight states as ‘focus states’ for COVID-19. These include Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Delhi.

Also Read: Top six districts with highest COVID-19 active cases in India are from Maharashtra

In Uttar Pradesh, 2,600 new COVID19 cases were reported today, up from only 87 a month back on March 1. Half of these cases are being reported from rural areas, Prasad informed in a press briefing today. The total active cases in the state now stands at 11,918.

“Many times, people think the corona disease is a city problem. This time, we have seen that half of the total cases are from villages. Earlier, the ratio was one fourth to three fourth (for villages and cities, respectively),” Prasad informed.

Also Read: Ripple effect of COVID-19’s second wave in India being felt across the globe

Vaccine hesitancy?

In a press briefing held yesterday, Prasad informed that many healthcare and frontline workers have not taken the second dose of COVID19 vaccine as yet. Around 40 per cent of over 1.66 million healthcare and frontline workers have skipped the second dose.

Of the 890,246 healthcare workers who got the first dose, only 585,298 have taken the second dose so far, a gap of 300,000-plus people.

Besides this, of the 769,727 frontline workers who took the first dose, only 405,221 have taken the second dose, a gap of 350,000. 

Prasad directed health and frontline workers to take the second dose of the vaccine on priority so that they are protected against the virus and carry out their duties safely.

“They should immediately take the second dose. Only then will antibodies develop in their bodies,” said Prasad in the press briefing.

Also Read: COVID19: At least 6 of country’s 10 active cases from Maharashtra