In the last 24 hours, Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, added 13,685 new coronavirus  cases raising the state’s COVIF-19 tally to 705,619 today. However, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said today 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. 

The COVID19 tally in Uttar Pradesh rose to 705,619 on April 12 with 13,685 fresh cases, and 72 more fatalities, the highest single-day death toll this month. The total  death toll due to the virus in the state now stands at 9,224, Additional Chief Secretary of Health Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters in Lucknow.

At present, there are 81,576 active cases in the state, while 614,819 patients have recovered from the infection so far.

Emphasising on the testing, tracing and treatment measures, the chief minister added, “If needed, take over the private hospitals and medical colleges to overcome the shortcomings.”

Addressing the officials in the meeting, the chief minister also 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.”

Adityanath 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.

Also Read: How did India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh lead the COVID-19 battle?

Meanwhile a number of states in India, such as Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, have announced night curfew and other COVID-19 related restrictions. The Haryana government also announced a night curfew from tonight 9 pm to 5 am next morning. 

Yesterday the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the national capital was facing the fourth COVID19 wave which was extremely dangerous. He said he was not in favour of a lockdown. 

Also Read: Delhi crosses 10,500 daily COVID19 cases; fourth wave very dangerous but no lockdown yet, says CM Kejriwal

However, the Maharashtra government is contemplating imposing a complete lock down in the state which is the worst affected due to the pandemic. A decision on the lockdown is expected soon. Meanwhile, the state is already enforcing weekend lockdown and night curfew. 

Also Read: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray indicates complete lockdown in the state