UP: Health department reports bed crunch as active cases mount to 81,576

Amid rising coronavirus cases, Uttar Pradesh is reportedly facing shortage of beds to treat virus patients. “90 per cent of the ICU beds are currently occupied in the state, in addition, other isolation beds are also getting consumed at high pace,” sources said.

Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh on Monday told India Today TV that the state was not expecting such a sudden rise in coronavirus cases due to which there was a shortage of hospital beds initially.

“We did not expect that so many coronavirus cases would come. We were not fully prepared for this and initially we faced sudden shortage of beds. However, now the number of level 2 and 3 beds are being increased in government as well as private hospitals,” Jai Pratap Singh said.

On Monday, the state reported 13, 685 new cases and 72 deaths. The number of active cases in UP has now mounted to 81,576 and death toll 9,224.

Jai Pratap Singh also told India Today TV that 37 hospitals in Lucknow currently have 3,500 beds. In addition, ventilators and ICU beds are also being increased after witnessing a rapid increase in Covid-19 cases in the last week.

He also said that the health department has instructed to increase the virus testing in the state, with special attention being paid to the contact tracing.

Night curfew has been imposed in various districts of UP and more restrictions will be imposed in the upcoming days, he added.

Night curfew in various UP districts

Last week, the Uttar Pradesh government had imposed night curfew in various districts and cities – Kanpur, Noida, Bareilly, Lucknow, others, citing resurgence of Covid-19 cases.

On asking if there are plans to impose a complete lockdown in the state, Singh said the state government is not planning to impose one.

In the last 24 hours, 1.94 lakh people were tested in the state. India Today