COVID-19 Pandemic spread to Uttar Pradesh in March 2020. While the World Health Organization praised the UP government for its contact tracing efforts, there were several other issues in its management of the pandemic, including under reportage of cases by the government, vaccine shortages and dismal conditions of COVID-19 hospitals.
Background
Uttar Pradesh is India's most populated state, with 240 million inhabitants. The 17th-century Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh is the most popular monument in India, attracting over 7 million visitors per year.
Uttar Pradesh has a large public as well as private healthcare infrastructure. Although an extensive network of public and private sector healthcare providers has been built, the available health infrastructure is inadequate to meet the demand for health services in the state.
Timeline
March 2020
5 March - A middle-aged man in Ghaziabad who had travel history to Iran tested positive. 9 March - A factory worker was tested positive after he came in contact with the coronavirus positive businessman from Agra. Earlier, five members from the businessman's family were tested positive. 12 March - A tourist guide in Noida, who came in contact with Italian guests was tested positive. Also a woman doctor from Canada tested positive in state capital Lucknow, taking the total cases in the state to ten. 13 March - An employee of a private firm in Noida tested positive who had travelled to Italy and Switzerland. Five patients were recovered. 15 March - State's twelfth case was reported in Lucknow. 17 March - Two people who returned from France tested positive in Noida 18 March - A man from Gautam Buddha Nagar district in Noida who had returned from Indonesia tested positive. 19 March - Two more people in state, one from Lucknow and the other from Lakhimpur Kheri district, tested positive. Later, an HCL employee in Noida who had returned from international travel tested positive. 20 March - Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor who returned from London tested positive in Lucknow. Four more people tested positive in Lucknow - three related to a previously infected doctor and one with a travel history to Gulf. 21 March - Noida confirmed a case in Supertech CapeTown society.
April 2020
1 April - 2 deaths reported in single day. First death in the state in Basti and other in Meerut. 3 April - 59 new cases reported in a single day out of which 54 are returned from Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi. 4 April - 70 new cases reported. 25 in Agra, 8 in Noida, 7 in Meerut, 6 in Maharajganj. 5 April - Third death in the state reported in Varanasi. 8 April - 4th death reported in state. First death in Agra. 11 April - 5th death in state. An ayurveda Doctor from Bulandshahr died in Delhi hospital. 13 People cured from the disease in a single day. Recovered people data raised to 45. 13 April - 75 new cases reported, 35 from Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi. 6th death in state and the first in Kanpur. 14 April - 102 new cases and 4 deaths in the state reported in a single day. Two each in Agra and Moradabad. 15 April - 67 new cases and two deaths in state. 4th in Agra. 1st in Lucknow. 16 April - 78 new cases and one death in state. 23 April - 61 new cases, 8 in Bahraich, 3 in Shravasti, 1 in Balrampur. 23 April - Uttar Pradesh minorities commission demands ban on Tablighi Jamaat in the state. 24 April - 111 new cases- 25 in Saharanpur, 29 in Kanpur, 9 in Varanasi, 1 in Ayodhya.
April 2021
16 April - The UP government announced a partial Sunday lockdown in order to curb the second wave of infections plaguing the state.
Response
State Government Response
Public Health Strategy
30 April 2020 - UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also directed officials to add 52,000 additional beds in the COVID-19 hospitals in the state. Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Avanish Awasthi told reporters on Wednesday that while 17,000 beds would be added by the Health Department, 35,000 beds would be added by the Medical Educational Department. "The Health Department will increase 10,000 beds in level one, 5,000 beds in level two (with oxygen) and 2,000 beds in level three (with ventilator). The Medical Education Department will increase 20,000 beds in level one, 10,000 beds in level two and 5,000 beds in level three," he said.
Containment and Quarantine strategy
17 March - The Uttar Pradesh government extended the closure of all educational institutions, cinemas, shopping malls, swimming pool, gyms, multiplexes and tourists places in the state until April 2.
Slaughterhouses in state were ordered to be closed from 22 to 24 March.