12 new COVID cases reported in Lucknow on Sunday

Amid the rising Omicron scare, 17 people have tested positive for coronavirus infection in Lucknow in the last 48 hours. This rise has also been noticed across the state as 59 fresh cases have been reported in Uttar Pradesh in the last 24 hours. As per the health department, while these additions have marked a rise in the active caseload in the state, taking the total tally to over 300, one Omicron infection was also reported in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.

5 people with travel history test COVID positive in Lucknow

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Talking about the cases in the city, Dr. Abhishek Shukla, secretary-general, Association of International Doctors said, "Lucknow reported 17 Covid cases in the past 48-hours, of which five cases were reported on Saturday and 12 on Sunday. The rising trend has to be checked with compliance of Covid protocol by one and all."

Out of the 17 patients who tested positive for COVID in Lucknow, two had a travel history to Dubai while one has recently returned from Jharkahnad and another from Mumbai. Reportedly, a person from Jaunpur undergoing treatment at King George's Medical University and a patient at Ram Manohar Lohia institute had also contacted the infection in the city. Additionally, four people also tested COVID positive during contact tracing in the city.

While urging the general public to avoid travelling except when necessary, Dr. Manoj Agrawal- the Chief Medical Officer of Lucknow, said that masks are essential for one's own well-being and for others' safety as well.

323 active COVID cases present in UP currently

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In a press release, Amit Mohan, Additional Chief Secretary (medical health) stated "In the past 24 hours, 18,587 Covid samples were tested and 59 new cases were reported,". Notably, in the last 48 hours, 96 new cases were marked in Uttar Pradesh making the active case count reach 323 cases.

Meanwhile, adding another case to the list of Omicron infections in the state, a woman in Rae Bareli tested positive on Sunday. Before this, two people in Ghaziabad were found infected with the new variant of coronavirus. While the 29-year old photographer who had returned from Florida recently is fine currently, all 12 of her contacts have tested negative for COVID.

Dr. Virendra Singh- the CMO of Rae Bareli said, "The woman reached New Delhi from Florida (US) and then came to Rae Bareli. We took her sample on December 16 and it tested positive for Covid-19 in the RT-PCR test. The genome sequencing was done thereafter and it came out to be Omicron."

The third phase of sero-surveillance kickstarts in UP from today

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In view of the spike in COVID cases, the third phase of sero-surveillance spanning the entire state starts from today. In this round, random sampling of men, women and children in five districts will be undertaken while sampling in twenty other districts will be done in the timeline. While all samples have to be collected in December, a senior health official in Lucknow said, "we will begin sampling from Monday. A list of people from whom samples have to be taken is ready."

A total of 3,200 samples will be collected from Ballia, Shahjahanpur, Kushinagar, Ghaziabad and Sambhal (640 each) in the ratio of three men to three women and three children. According to reports, in the other 20 districts, 100 samples will be taken in different categories.

Health workers who had tested COVID positive between May 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020, will constitute the first category while the second category will include 264 samples of health workers who did not test positive till vaccination started on January 16, 2021. The third category includes people above 60-years of age who tested positive in the RT-PCR report between July 1, 2020, and February 28, 2021. Going by reports, 332 samples will be collected from all these districts for this third round of sero-surveillance.

With inputs from IANS