Claiming to have proved experts wrong, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that because of the effective measures taken by the government, there were over 3,000 coronavirus positive cases in Uttar Pradesh against experts’ grim projection of over 70,000 cases by the end of May.
“The experts had claimed that by the end of May, total coronavirus positive cases in UP would be over 70,000. But, where we stand on June 3? Today, we have over 8,000 positive cases of which around 5,000 have recovered and technically the state of 23 crore population has just 3,000 positive cases. Similarly, at the national level, the total cases are over two lakh whereas the experts had claimed there would be 32 lakh cases at this juncture”, Yogi told a select group of reporters here on Wednesday.
He said: “We are set to prove experts wrong again. Some are saying that as the coronavirus pandemic is yet to touch peak in India, it was wrong to unlock at this stage. They say the figures will skyrocket now. But because of awareness created among the masses , strengthening of the healthcare system and the support government got from all sections of society, including the religious leaders, we will again prove these experts wrong.”
To buttress his point, Yogi said that the virus struck both India and United States at around the same time. US had better healthcare facilities but the pandemic devastated it while India was able to control the spread (of disease) better. The number of positive cases in India was over two lakh while USA had 17 lakh positive cases and the death toll in India was over 5000 while in the US it was over one lakh.
“It is all about management. In India in general and in Uttar Pradesh in particular, timely steps were taken to keep the cases low,” he said and added: “Alertness and awareness about the pandemic has kept the figure down.”
The chief minister admitted that containing this disease was a financial strain, adding that though in April there was shortage of funds to meet the government expenses, in May the revenue collection started and we were able to earn Rs 6,000 crore against Rs 15,000 crore required to meet the monthly expenses of the government.
“Despite the financial strain, UP was able to pay salaries to its employees in April and in May. By June, with economic activities gaining grounds, we will be able to generate more resources as all arms of economy are working now,” he said.
Yogi Adityanath made it clear that his government was committed to serving the people and would provide jobs to the migrant who had returned to the state during the lockdown.
“We have prepared data of the skilled and unskilled migrant workers and the process has started to give them jobs,” he said, claiming that around 32 lakh migrant workers and their family members had returned to the UP.
“Every youth will get opportunity in the state and the government will ensure that they get jobs as per their skills and abilities,” he said.
Hitting out at opposition parties, Yogi said that they were spreading canards because “they are not aware of the ground realities and are discussing the pandemic sitting in their air-conditioned drawing rooms”.
He said that this crisis was a challenge for his government. “We used this challenge to strengthen our healthcare system. The virus testing facilities have been increased from 10,000 samples a day sometime back to 15,000 samples at present and by the end of this month, it will be 20,000 samples per day. Beds at the Covid hospitals have gone up to over one lakh. The health facilities at the district level have improved and now every district will have Covid testing machines. Besides, non-Covid hospitals too have started surgeries and are attending to emergency patients,” he said .
When asked about the opening of religious places, restaurants and shopping malls from June 8, Yogi said that the government was waiting for the Centre’s guideline and thereafter the state would release its own guidelines before allowing religious and other activities.
