The state government sent a team of nodal officers here on Monday in view of the sharp rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in Meerut zone including eight districts of Saharanpur and Meerut divisions where 212 new cases have been reported in last 24 hours with 7 deaths.

The situation is becoming alarming in the zone with the spurt in COVID positive cases. In the last 24 hours, 212 positive cases have been reported from eight districts of Meerut and Saharanpur divisions. Most of these cases are, however, from five districts of Meerut divisions viz Meerut, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Bulandshahr and Hapur while only 15 COVID cases are from Saharanpur, Shamli and Muzzaffarnagar districts of Saharanpur division.

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Taking cognisance of the steep rise in the number of COVID cases here, the state government has sent a new team of nodal officers from Lucknow to take stock of the situation in Meerut and nearby districts.

Earlier, a different team was sent here from Lucknow that stayed here for a few days and tried to control the situation arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The team comprising of Excise Commissioner P Guruprasad and Dr Sharad Chandra of KGMU Lucknow arrived in Meerut on Monday. They would try to examine and improve the health situation here in view of the pandemic.

The two officials held a meeting with the officials of the district administration and health department and tried to analyse the situation. The officials also demanded a detailed report of deaths in the COVID ward of the Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College Hospital here during the treatment of COVID patients.

The officials examined the health facilities at the disposal for COVID patients and also the COVID testing being carried out here. Furthermore, actions were discussed to effectively check the spread of the virus.

In Meerut alone, 40 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in the past 24 hours taking the total number of positive cases here to 672 of which 48 were deaths. In the last three days, 99 new cases have been reported which include different sections of the society viz cops, prisoners, housewives, etc. The officials are trying to trace the contact history of these cases.

The maximum number of cases reported in the past 24 hours are from Gautam Budh Nagar district where 76 persons have tested positive. This district is also having the highest number of COVID positive cases in the division which has crossed the 1000 mark now.

In Hapur district, the figure of positive cases is 49 while in Bulandshahr and Ghaziabad districts 17 and15 new cases tested positive on Monday. No case, however, has been reported from Baghpat in last 24 hours. One person each died in Meerut, Ghaziabad and Bulandshahr districts while maximum three deaths were reported from Gautam Budh Nagar district in last 24 hours.

In Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur and Shamli districts of Saharanpur division, 8, 6 and 1 new cases were confirmed on Monday with death in Shamli district.

In order to control the situation and break the chain of the virus, the district administration in Meerut is planning to introduce two-day complete lockdown in a week.

According to Chief Medical Officer Dr Rajkumar, two-day complete lockdown may help in breaking the chain but the decision would be taken in a meeting of all magistrates, circle officers and health authorities.