India News | UP Records Biggest Single-day Jump of 4,660 COVID-19 Cases, Tally Rises to 1,18,038

Lucknow, Aug 8 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest single-day spike of 4,660 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the state's virus count to 1,18,038.

However, a government statement said 4,800 new cases were recorded in the state in the last 24 hours.

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Uttar Pradesh's tally stood at 1,13,378 on Friday.

The COVID-19 death toll climbed to 2,028 with 47 more casualties in the state, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said.

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At present, there are 46,177 active cases in the state and 69,833 people have been discharged from hospitals after recovery, he said.

Of the latest casualties, five were reported from Kanpur Nagar; four from Bareilly; three each from Lucknow, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Azamgarh; two each from Jhansi, Meerut, Ballia, Deoria, Shahjahanpur and Sant Kabir Nagar, among other districts, the statement said.

Lucknow reported the highest number of fresh COVID-19 cases at 663, followed by 256 in Prayagraj, 253 in Kanpur Nagar, 226 in Gorakhpur, and 221 in Varanasi, among other districts, it said.

Awasthi said more than 1.02 lakh tests were conducted in the state on Friday, taking the total count to over 29 lakh.

He said 15,678 people are in home isolation, 1,352 in private hospitals, and 178 in semi-paid facilities.

Earlier, Medical Education Minister Suresh Khanna had appealed to people of the state to ensure proper social and physical distancing, and wear masks while venturing out.

The government has been going all out to check the disease and ensure people's safety. It has managed to minimise damage as states smaller than Uttar Pradesh have reported a higher number of cases and mortality rate, he had said.

The thrust is on minimising the time taken to make medical treatment available to patients, the minister had said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)