The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday said it had started pool testing COVID-19 samples in the State.
Meanwhile, the number of deaths due to COVID-19 in U.P. climbed to 13 and the positive cases stood at 805, according to the State Directorate of Health Services.
State Helpline numbers | State-wise tracker | A map of confirmed cases in India
After experimenting with pool testing, which allows testing several samples together, in Agra, the State would now expand it to other districts.
The first batch of 150 samples from Agra, tested in 30 pools of five samples each, turned out negative, said Amit Mohan Prasad, principal secretary, health department.
“The testing was quite encouraging,” said Mr. Prasad, adding that the government was expanding the pool testing to other districts.
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Agra has turned out to be a major hotspot in the State with the most number of positive cases —167 — as well as five deaths. For the pool testing, the administration collected samples from “buffer zones” outside the containment areas in Agra, said Mr. Prasad.
The government has also stepped up testing, with 2,615 samples tested on Wednesday, said Mr. Prasad.
The State has so far tested 21,384 samples.
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Positive COVID-19 cases have been recorded in U.P. from 48 out of the 75 districts, with fresh cases reported in Unnao, Mainpuri, Sant Kabir Nagar and Kannauj.
Lucknow also recorded its first casualty with the death of a 64-year-old patient at the King George’s Medical University. With 100 positive cases, Lucknow stands only behind Agra in the State.
