Uttar Pradesh is gradually inching towards being declared a Covid-free state as 49 districts, including Lucknow, have already attained the 'zero Covid' status and the remaining 26 have 103 active cases, according to the state health department.
Districts that collectively have 103 active Covid cases are Rae Bareli, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Kushinagar, Ambedkar Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, Amroha, Etah, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur, Kannauj, Sambhal, Siddharth Nagar, Sitapur, Amethi, Bulandshahr, Fatehpur, Firozabad, Jalaun, Maharajganj, Pilibhit, Pratapgarh and Shahjahanpur.
Dr Vikasendu Agrawal, the State Surveillance Officer (SSO), said: "All these districts have Covid cases in single digit and the remaining 49 do not have any Covid case."
"Despite no Covid case, the protocol remains the same and tests are being conducted for symptomatic patients reaching hospital," said health department officials in Lucknow.
The 'zero Covid' status is achieved when a district has three consecutive days with no new daily increases in infections.
However, a district loses this status in case of even a single fresh case.
The surveillance unit will continue its work and ensure contact tracing of any fresh Covid cases that may be reported.
"As Covid has yet not been eliminated, therefore protocol for hospitals remains the same for screening and testing suspected cases," said Nishant Nirvan, district surveillance officer in health department, Lucknow.
Health experts said vaccination coverage, apart from Covid protocol including use of masks and social distancing adopted by citizens, has resulted in decline of Covid cases.
"With 100 per cent eligible people (according to population and age data) getting a dose of Covid vaccine in Uttar Pradesh, a safety shield against the Covid infection was created that helped in checking the spread of infection," said a senior health official.
Uttar Pradesh has so far administered 39,04,93,214 doses of Covid vaccine, including 17,69,50,222 first doses and 16,87,88,334 second doses.
In Lucknow, over 95,16,245 lakh doses of Covid vaccine have been administered, including 45,68,563 first doses and 40,20,197 second doses.
The state is conducting over 25,000 tests daily. (SJ/IANS)
