Yogi govt bans use of mobile phones by patients in isolation wards to contain Covid spread

Amid rising Coronavirus cases, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has Sunday announced a ban on the use of mobile phones in the isolation wards. The notice said that the use of mobile phones by patients in the isolation wards of L-2 and L-3 Covis-19 hospitals is banned. It stated that the patients will now be required to submit their mobile phones to the ward in-charge of COVID care centres. 

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Meanwhile, to boost the economy of the state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday launched the “Uttar Pradesh Startup Fund” and handed over the first installment of Rs 15 crore to Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). He said that providing employment to migrant workers and labourers would not only solve their problems but the entire country will get the benefit of their skills through Uttar Pradesh. Under the new start-up policy, the government would motivate more youth to begin start-ups.

The UP CM also said that a large number of migrant workers have returned to the state and his government is looking to provide them employment as per their skill. "This will not only solve their problems but the benefit of their energy and talent will also be provided to the entire country through Uttar Pradesh", he added.

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Covid-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh

Three more persons died of COVID-19 while 288 more tested positive for the infection in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, raising the total fatalities due to the disease to 155 and total cases to 6,017 in the state, an official bulletin said. One death each was reported from Firozabad, Aligarh and Bulandshahr, UP’s Joint Director-cum-State Surveillance Officer, Dr Vikasendu Agrawal, for the state’s Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) said in a statement.

Agra leads the death tally in the state with total 33 deaths till date, followed by 21 in Meerut, 11 deaths each in Moradabad and Aligarh, nine in Kanpur Nagar, seven in Firozabad, besides other districts. Among the fresh infected cases reported on Saturday, 32 were from Jaunpur, 25 from Rampur, 18 from Sultanpur, 17 from Gautam Buddh Nagar, 16 from Meerut, 12 each from Ghaziabad and Varanasi, 11 from Lucknow and 10 from Hardoi. The count of active COVID-19 cases in the state stood at 2,456 on Saturday, said the bulletin, adding so far, 3,406 COVID-19 patients have been cured and discharged.

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