Will neither impose lockdown, nor let people die in misery: UP CM Yogi Adityanath

During a high-level review meeting on the coronavirus situation in the state,  Adityanath made it very clear that neither his government would impose another lockdown nor let the people die in misery.

He said, "It is the officials' responsibility to ensure beforehand that there is no shortage of hospital beds for the patients in the state."

Emphasising on testing, tracing and treatment, he said, "If needed, take over the private hospitals and medical colleges to overcome the shortcomings."

Addressing the officials in the meeting, the CM said, "Our priority is to implement an effective strategy to stop the spread of COVID-19. We will have to fight the pandemic vigorously with full preparation, as there is no scope for any sort of negligence in this fight."

Praising his government's efforts to control the spread of the virus last year, he said, "Similar to the last year, we will have to fight this war with great strength. For the same, we will have to increase the beds in L2 (with oxygen facility) and L3 (with ventilators) hospitals in sufficient quantities."

Expressing displeasure over the recovery rate in the private hospitals and labs below the prescribed rates, he said, "Nobody will be allowed to take advantage of the helplessness of the victims. It has to stop immediately. In case of providing incorrect or misleading information, strict action will be taken."

Adityanath has also instructed the officials to dedicate half of the 108 ambulance service for COVID-19 patients and the remaining half for non-COVID cases. He has set the response time for these ambulances at 15 minutes.

He laid emphasis on making the Integrated Command and Control Center the focal point of the entire fight and monitoring its activity one by one.

The Chief Minister also directed the officials to ensure that there is no delay in the test report of the COVID-19 patients. He suggested taking help from private labs if needed, or completely take them over and pay them the required amount, but in no circumstances, the test report should be delayed.

He also pitched for the expansion of lab and testing capabilities. Adityanath instructed the officials to increase the RT-PCR test capacity by 70 per cent.