The tally of corona-positive cases in Uttar Pradesh has touched 82. Out of the 82 cases, 14 patients have recovered and discharged till now. Strict vigil, alertness and prompt actions from the state government have helped in containing the spread of this pandemic.

But with the continuous influx of migrant workers, the UP administration has come up with new measures and geared up its existing machinery further. 

The following measures are being taken in this direction:  

1.    Thermal screening, on-the-spot testing for the incoming migrant workers is the first step in this direction. If they are suspected of being a coronavirus carrier, they are being isolated in hospitals while the asymptomatic people are placed in quarantine facilities in schools, Dharamshalas (community rest house), etc. It is only after they complete the term of their quarantine that they will be allowed to go to their hom towns and villages.

2.    The state has already sent a proposal to purchase 200 additional ventilators and will also be engaging with the private sector hospitals as and when needed.

3.    UP Principal Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said: “We are preparing a package for them (the incoming migrant workers). A number of private hospitals have approached us to treat COVID-19 patients. Some of these will also be turned into dedicated-COVID hospitals. The patients of such private hospitals will either be shifted or discharged, depending upon their conditions.”

4.    Referring to the three-tier hospital system devised by the state government, every district will have L1 (level one) hospitals which will be able to treat mild cases. Severe cases shall be treated in the L3 hospitals, which will be super specialty hospitals like the 200-bed SGPGI Lucknow, KGMU Meerut and BRD Gorakhpur spread across the state and will be increased to five to seven in number.

5.    Lucknow district administration has converted the city’s many five-star hotels such as Hotel Hyatt, Hotel Piccadily, Hotel Lemon Tree and Hotel Fairfield into quarantine facilities for doctors and nurses engaged in treatment of coronavirus patients. The medical staff working with coronavirus-affected persons will not be allowed to go their homes and will stay in these hotels for 14 days during which a fresh team of doctors and other medical staff would replace them at the isolation wards in the hospital.

6.    King Georges’ Medical University staff has been instructed to use the university premises as an isolation facility.

7.    Moreover, a number of community centres such as the Haj House near Lucknow Airport, Avadh Shilp Gram on Shaheed Path and Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in the state capital have also been converted as quarantine centres to house those arriving from outside Uttar Pradesh.

8.    Hon’ble Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has transferred Rs. 611 crore directly to the bank accounts of 27.5 lakh workers of the state, under the MNREGA scheme, in the light of coronavirus lockdown.

9.    Three cities in UP — Noida, Lucknow and Ghaziabad — have issued advisories to landlords to not take rent from labourers, students and other factory workers. Any violation will be subject to action as said in a statement issued by the Additional Secretary (Home) Mr. Awanish Awasthi. 

10.    The state government has also asked brick kiln owners and approximately 2,000 factory units to resume operations while ensuring proper social distancing norms to absorb this influx of migrant workers and make arrangements for their stay in and around their work premises.

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