Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath on Wednesday said that he has tested positive for the coronavirus and was isolating himself. This came hours after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Uttar Pradesh minister Ashutosh Tandon also tested positive for the infection.
Adityanath went into isolation on Tuesday as a precaution after some officials of his office tested positive for the virus. “After initial symptoms, I got myself tested,” Adityanath tweeted. “My report is positive. I am in self-isolation and following doctors advice. I am doing all the work virtually.”
The chief minister had campaigned for the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal for the Assembly elections.
In a tweet in Hindi, Yadav wrote, “My corona test report has come positive. I have isolated myself and started treatment at home itself. People who have come in contact with me in the past few days should get themselves tested. They are requested to stay in isolation for some days.”
The Samajwadi Party chief had visited Uttarakhand’s Haridwar to attend the Kumbh Mela, according to PTI. Hundreds of thousands of devotees have gathered in the city for a ritual bath in the Ganges River despite the massive surge in coronavirus cases in India. Basic coronavirus-related protocols such as wearing masks, thermal screening, and checking negative test reports have been ignored at the gathering.
After reaching Lucknow, Yadav got himself tested on Tuesday.
Uttar Pradesh Urban Development Minister Ashutosh Tandon also urged people who came in contact with him to get themselves tested. “After observing initial symptoms of corona, I got myself tested, and the report has come positive,” he tweeted. “On the advice of doctors, I have isolated myself at home.”
Uttar Pradesh has reported a surge in coronavirus cases. On Tuesday, the state recorded 18,021 infections, the highest-ever rise since the start of the pandemic in January 2020. With this, the tally climbed to 7,23,582. The toll climbed by 85 to 9,309 in the last 24 hours. There are 95,980 active coronavirus cases in the state.
Consider imposing lockdown in worst-affected areas: Allahabad HC
The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to consider imposing complete lockdown in districts reporting a sharp jump in cases, PTI reported. Districts like Prayagraj, Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur and Gorakhpur have been severely affected by the pandemic.
“We understand that complete lockdown for weeks together may not be feasible but looking to the current surge of pandemic, we direct the government to look into the viability of complete lockdown in those districts where spread has increased alarmingly, for at least two weeks or three weeks and at least immediately all public gatherings must be restricted to 50 persons,” a bench of Justices Siddhartha Varma and Ajit Kumar said.
The court warned that if the “alarming situation” is not handled carefully then it may lead to a complete collapse of the public health system. “We have been informed that Covid Hospitals are over-flooded with Covid patients and there is both manpower shortage and available facilities in hospitals,” the judges observed.
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