COVID-19 cases are resurfacing in districts declared “corona-free” by the Uttar Pradesh government.
State Helpline numbers | State-wise tracker | A map of confirmed cases in India
On April 22, the U.P. Health Department declared that with the inclusion of Pratapgarh district, the total number of districts that had recovered from COVID-19, those that have not reported any new cases over a certain period of time, had increased to 11. These “corona-mukt” districts, as the government called them, were Lakhimpur Kheri, Pilibhit, Bareilly, Hardoi, Pratapgarh, Shahjahanpur, Hathras, Maharajganj, Barabanki, Kaushambi and Prayagraj.
However, the figure has dropped since then, as some of these districts, including Prayagraj and Pratapgarh, reported fresh cases.
Also read | Yogi Adityanath government misleading people on COVID-19 numbers, says U.P. Congress chief
On April 30, the number of districts that reported positive cases but now have zero active cases stood at seven. They were Kheri, Hardoi, Shahjahanpur, Hathras, Barabanki, Kaushambi and Bhadohi. But on May 1, the number of affected districts with zero active cases further fell to six. They were Lakhimpur Kheri, Hardoi, Shahjahanpur, Barabanki, Kaushambi and Kasganj.
Hathras and Bhadohi, which had been declared free of COVID-19 returned on Thursday to the infected list, as they reported fresh cases, one each, as per the health department data.
Also read | Without physical distancing, migrants scramble for bananas
Raising the issue on Twitter, U.P. Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu asked the State government “on what basis” had it declared certain districts “corona-free” when they were reporting fresh cases.
Meanwhile, with deaths reported in Ghaziabad and Moradabad, the toll in U.P. went up to 42. The total number of cases climbed to 2,328, while the number of active cases stood at 1,632, according to the State Directorate of Health Services.
The total number of districts affected also went up to 63, with two cases in Siddharthnagar and one in Deoria, both on the eastern fringes of U.P.
