In a bid to control the current surge of the second COVID wave in Uttar Pradesh, the state government has declared the extension of the ongoing lockdown till May 10, 7 AM. Previously, the timeline of the weekend corona curfew was stretched till 7 AM on Thursday and now it would be operational till Monday morning. As of now, 13,68,183 individuals have been infected by the virus and 13,798 citizens have succumbed to the fatal contagion.

Need for amplified measures amid dipping count of new infections in UP

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Though the tally of new detections fell to a three-week low of 25,770 in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, the administration envisions preventing a revival in surge with the new restraints. While 6,17,194 cases were recorded in the state by the end of March, the caseload sprung up alarmingly in April and reached 12,52,324 by the end of the month. Given these unprecedented circumstances, the officials intervened with a number of restrictions in the past two weeks.

While 8,811 fatalities were registered in the 12-month period since the start of the pandemic, the graph steeped higher with 3,759 deaths witnessed in April alone. On the bright side, more than 3.5 lakh recoveries have been recorded in the state in the past 10 days, which is marginally higher than the count of new infections seen in the same period.

Though the administration is taking extensive measures for curtailing the spread of contamination, associated benefits can only be reaped if strict adherence to the guidelines is observed. We must not forget that the medical infrastructure stands overburdened already and a further hike in cases would deteriorate the situation.