Containment of COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh (UP): Most populated state of India

Containment of COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh (UP): Most populated state of India

India currently under lockdown 2.0 for 19 days (April 15 to May 3) is fighting back against COVID-19 with a “cluster containment strategy” to contain the disease within a defined geographic area by early detection of cases, breaking the chain of transmission and thus preventing its spread.

Italy the first European country reported outbreak of COVID-19 and is badly affected by the virus. Italy has 6.04 crores (2019) Population. Italy is close to me as my boss Prof. Annamaria Campanini, President of International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) hails from Italy. We work closely together by using all kind of digital options: Whatsapp, Emails, Skype and video calls etc.

I am based in Mumbai and my home town is Prayagraj city of Uttar Pradesh (UP), north Indian state with the population of population of 19.98 Crores (as per 2011 census).  I follow the news keenly on regular basis about all preventive /precautionary measures taken by UP Govt.
One day my brother (who is based in Prayagraj) showed concern on Italy and as he had no idea about population of Italy. I told him, “UP me char Italy ban jayenge” (as a rough estimation the population of UP is 4 times of Italy).

on April 19, UP has 969 total confirmed cases, 86 cured/discharged and 14 deaths recorded. Source: https://www.mygov.in/corona-data/covid19-statewise-status)

UP reported its first positive case on March 3 and out of 75 districts 27 are having COVID positive cases. Looking at the population of UP the question arise how state had controlled the number of cases? Let’s see it in following heads:

Containment strategy 
From being the first to declare a coronavirus cluster in Agra, UP started action on the field by undertaking house-to-house contact-tracing, making self-reporting mandatory, building a specialized app to track the heath of those in self-isolation and self-quarantine. UP has set a template to combat the virus.

The Cluster Containment Strategy
The Govt identified clusters/hotspots in UP and started contain the disease within a defined geographic area by early detection of cases, breaking the chain of transmission and thus preventing its spread to new areas. This would include geographic quarantine, social distancing measures, enhanced active surveillance, testing all suspected cases, isolation of cases, quarantine of contacts and risk communication to create awareness among public on preventive public health measures.

Help from the Citizen of UP
Any public health programme/model can not be successful without the support of local population. Citizen of UP is really helping Government’s actions by various means: being inside the home during the lockdown, following all the measures/instructions provided by Govt. Citizen of UP is actively helping Govt in various way: following all the instructions. In some places local public also helping Police and administration by informing any “new”/unknown person (if hiding).

Supply of Essentials
The Uttar Pradesh government used more than 10,000 vehicles for delivery of essential products like vegetables, milk, medicines etc. to assure the public of availability of these products and prevent them from stepping out of their houses during the lockdown.
The UP CM Yogi Adityanath in a statement said that close to 4,500 police response vehicles (PRVs), 4,200 ambulances- both 102 and 108 as well as vehicles owned by government's food department and other government vehicle will help in delivering these products at peoples' doorsteps while appealing that people stay inside their homes and not step out to mandis and grocery stores.

Salary/employment and monetary help
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed all concerned to ensure that all temporary or outsourced employee of educational institutes, hospitals or offices are not deprived of their honorariums as they will not be able to attend the office due to lockdown.
The chief minister also directed to release a sum of Rs 1,000 per head for those belonging to weakers sections. In addition, he also directed to provide Rs 1,000 to the all those of the urban and rural areas who have not been covered so far in any welfare scheme.
So far, the state government has given Rs 236. 98 crores as maintenance allowance to 23.70 lakh labourers from its resources, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi informed.

Special arrangements for the weaker section
Beside the help from Central Government*, UP provided additional help to people below poverty line.
UP Supply Mitra Portal, Annapurna Portal
Uttar Pradesh government has started a new UP Supply Mitra Portal, Annapurna Portal for citizens at supplymitra-up.com. At this portal, people can get information of nearby kirana and ration items distribution centres for home delivery at Supply Mitra portal. People can even get information of cooked food distribution centres as well as food items vitaran kendras at Annapurna Portal. In case anyone wants to include their name in list of stores for home delivery of food, ration items to people during Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown can apply online.
Along with home delivery of food items, people can also apply for inclusion of their name in the list of suppliers of cooked food. The main objective of launching UP Supply Mitra Portal by CM Yogi Adityanath is to ensure that no person in the state remains hungry.

UP Yogi Majdur Bhatta Yojana (Financial help to weaker section)
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on March 21 announced that state government will give lakhs of daily wage labourers and construction workers Rs 1,000 per month to meet their household needs. This was most relaxing announcement for weaker section during the panic of lockdown. More than 35 Lakh daily wage labourers will be benefitted under this scheme.

Bringing back Migrant workers from other states
After nationwide lockdown halting all means of transport was announced migrant workers and workers from Haryana and Delhi started walking towards UP to go back to their places.  The Uttar Pradesh government arranged 1,000 buses to ferry migrant labourers who are stranded on the border districts i.e.  Noida, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar and Aligarh and other places. The buses later left for Kanpur, Ballia, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Faizabad, Basti, Pratapgarh, Sultanpur, Amethi, Rae Bareli, Gonda, Etawah, Bahraich and Shravasti.
These migrant workers were kept in isolation ward arranged by the Govt. They were provided all kind of facilities such as food, water, medical assistance etc for containment of virus.
*________________________________________
Help from Central Govt.
PMJDY 2020 PM Jan Dhan Yojana
all women who hold the Jan Dhan accounts in the banks will get 500 rupees for the upcoming three months.
PradhanMantri Ujjwala Yojana
PM Ujjwala Scheme is a Central Government funded scheme launched with an aim to provide five Crore (50 million) LPG connections to BPL families of the country. During Pandemic, PM Modi announced to provide cylinder free for three months. The Govt started putting money for cylinder in the account of beneficiary of Ujjwala Scheme and they can get cylinder after payment.

References:
http://supplymitra-up.com/
https://www.mygov.in/corona-data/covid19-statewise-status/
https://www.pmjdy.gov.in/scheme
https://pmuy.gov.in/